How effective are tutoring programs likely to be? What kinds of challenges need to be addressed for tutoring to contribute to real improvements in schooling on a large scale? In this extended series of posts, IEN continues to scan the news and research on the emergence of tutoring as a key strategy to help students “recover” from the school closures of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first part of this series describes some of the funding initiatives contributing to the emphasis on “high-dosage” tutoring as a “recovery” strategy, as well as some of the initiatives to expand access to tutoring being pursued in the US in particular. Part 2 of this scan will describe some of the challenges educators are experiencing as they try to develop and implement tutoring approaches, and Part 3 will survey some of the specific new developments and “micro-innovations” that could make tutoring more effective in the future. This series is part of IEN’s ongoing coverage of what is and is not changing in schools and education following the school closures of the pandemic. For more from the series, see “What can change in schools after the pandemic?” and “ We will now resume our regular programming.” For IEN’s previous coverage of news and research on tutoring, see Scanning the News on High Dosage Tutoring, Part 1: A Solution to Pandemic Learning Recovery, and Part 2: Initiatives and Implementation So Far. This post was written by Thomas Hatch and Jonathan Beltran Alvarado.
In the wake of the COVID-19-related school closures, “high dosage” tutoring represents a rare instance of a “recovery” strategy that seems to have wide support, willing funders, and available resources. Under the circumstances, it’s no surprise that over the past two years, tutoring initiatives have taken off around the world, particularly in the US.
Tutoring around the world
The global interest in tutoring has always been reflected in the enormous investments in “shadow education” – often private programs that children attend to supplement and support their schooling. In China, survey estimates suggest that while 65% of families with school-aged children took advantage of private tutoring in 2016, that number may have surged to 92% by 2021. In response, the Chinese government passed regulations designed to ban for-profit companies from tutoring in core curriculum subjects.
In China, survey estimates suggest that while 65% of families with school-aged children took advantage of private tutoring in 2016, that number may have surged to 92% by 2021
Although the size, scale, and pressure of private tutoring are often highlighted in Asian countries, the interest in tutoring is evident across the globe. In England, according to the Sutton Trust’s 2023 report “Tutoring: The New Landscape,” almost 1 in 3 young people aged 11 – 16 report they have had private tutoring, up from 18% in 2005. In Spain, nearly half of families pay for children to get private lessons, with those families spending about 1.8 billion dollars (USD) on classes with languages – particularly English – as the main priority. In Egypt, the New York Times reports, “Students in Egypt are flocking to private tutoring centers as the country’s public schools remain overcrowded and underfunded,” explaining that estimates suggest that Egyptian families are spending over one and a half times more on pre-college education than the government does. A “mind-blowing” amount, as Hania Sobhy, an expert on Egyptian education, described it.
Tutoring: The New Landscape, The Sutton Trust
At least for wealthy elites, private tutoring may have no international boundaries or many other constraints. Sarah Thomas, in “My Surreal Years Tutoring the Children of the Super-Rich,” explained: “I wanted a job that allowed me free time, so I registered with a tutoring agency. A few weeks later, I found myself in a speedboat cutting across the Indian Ocean towards a superyacht the size of a ferry.” That job soon led to other tutoring arrangements where her “classrooms would be on yacht decks surrounded by dolphins, in Monaco penthouses with infinity pools, and in Mayfair townhouses with halls full of Mapplethorpes.”
I wanted a job that allowed me free time,” she writes, “so I registered with a tutoring agency. A few weeks later, I found myself in a speedboat cutting across the Indian Ocean towards a superyacht the size of a ferry. – Sarah Thomas, My Surreal Years Tutoring the Children of the Super-Rich
To some extent, the recent growth in tutoring has been fueled by the pandemic (as predicted by the Economist). In South Korea, for example, post-pandemic spending on private supplementary education reached a record high of 20 billion dollars. As that headline put it, “Korean households spend more on tutoring than food, housing.” In places like South Africa, private initiatives like Ikamva Youth and the Kliptown Youth have long drawn on tutoring as a crucial strategy to improve learning. Still, a number of new tutoring ventures have been launched since the school closures of the COVID-19 pandemic (Nonprofit help2read steps in to help save a ‘lost generation’; Free maths and science tutoring for all grade 11 and 12 learners).
On top of these private initiatives, numerous countries have also made significant public investments in expanding tutoring both in school and out in response to concerns about learning loss related to school closures. England was one of the first countries to embark on a major, public tutoring initiative (£1bn catch-up tutoring fund for England’s pupils; Funding for national tutoring programme in England to be doubled next academic year); but public tutoring initiatives are also being pursued in places like the Netherlands (Are the Dutch Solving the Covid Slide with Tutoring? Netherlands to spend €105 million to reduce classroom sizes, add tutoring); Australia (New South Wales Labor promises permanent tutors, end to ‘underfunding’ public schools; Victoria and NSW are funding extra tutors to help struggling students); and New Zealand (where 20 million dollars have been dedicated to additional teaching and tutoring services).
Tutoring takes off in the US
In the US, tutoring has always been a popular strategy for providing “extra help,” but following the school closures, tutoring is emerging as a more integral part of schooling across the US. According to a Education Week survey of school leaders and teachers in 1,287 districts at the end of the 2021-22 school year, almost 90% of those responding said that their school or district was offering some kind of tutoring (interesting, only 75% said that they “somewhat agreed” or “completely agreed” that “tutoring is an effective intervention for students in my district or school”). Backing up those numbers, by the spring of 2022, estimates suggest that districts had dedicated over $1.7 billion in Federal funding to tutoring-related efforts and predicted spending could reach 3.6 billion by 2024. Correspondingly, the Department of Education reported that in the 2023-24 school year, more than four out of five schools reported offering tutoring programs, ranging from traditional after-school homework help to intensive tutoring.
The Rise of Tutoring and Where It Falls Short, in Charts, Education Week
A whole series of funding initiatives have contributed to this widespread use of tutoring. With (unusual) bipartisan support, Congress and the Biden administration included support for tutoring in the package of $123 billion in emergency federal aid to schools. The U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, has urged schools to use their funds to provide at least 90 minutes of weekly tutoring to students most affected by the pandemic. Furthermore, in 2022, the Biden administration launched the National Partnership for Student Success – a three-year effort to create a coalition of organizations to “recruit, screen, train, support, and engage an additional 250,000 caring adults in roles serving as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, wraparound service coordinators, and post-secondary transition coaches”.
Private funders are also supporting tutoring efforts by establishing Accelerate, a new organization dedicated to developing and scaling affordable “high-impact” tutoring programs across the country. With funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Arnold Ventures, and the Overdeck Family Foundation, Accelerate set out to raise at least 100 million dollars to develop a network and make grants to support some of the most innovative tutoring models. According to later reports, Accelerate has provided 10 million dollars to 31 organizations developing “innovative” tutoring models and a million dollars to five different states to establish support and “infrastructure” for integrating tutoring into the regular school day that can serve as a model for other states.
States and cities have also participated in increasing the number of tutoring programs available around the country. New Hampshire’s approach includes offering a Yes, Every Student scholarship providing $1,000 for private tutoring from “state-approved educators” for “any young person whose education was negatively impacted by the pandemic.” New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut described the reaction to the program this way: “When I explain the program to [parents], they become very excited, like, ‘Oh, this is great. In some cases, they’re almost like, ‘It’s too good to be true. How can this possibly be?’”
“When I explain the program to [parents], they become very excited, like, ‘Oh, this is great. In some cases, they’re almost like, ‘It’s too good to be true. How can this possibly be?’”
–New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut Quoted in ‘Too Good to Be True’: NH Gives Students $1,000 for Tutoring, The74
Tennessee has launched a three-year tutoring project called Tennessee Accelerating Literacy and Learning Corps (TN ALL Corps), expected to cost almost 200 million dollars. The initiative hopes to serve 150,000 in 79 districts students who are just below proficiency in reading or math. In Texas in 2021, the state legislature passed a bill requiring schools to provide at least 30 hours of tutoring for students who did not pass the state tests in math or reading in grades three, five, or eight. To help meet the ensuing demand for tutoring, the Texas Education Agency established the Vetted Texas Tutor Corps, which seeks to offer support for over one million students by reviewing and approving eligible tutoring providers and offering a High Impact Tutoring Toolkit.
In Ohio, most families now qualify for $1,000 to pay for tutoring. Through its Afterschool Child Enrichment program, called ACE, the Ohio State Department of Education supports educational activities for students who “experienced learning disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.” In Ohio’s case, however, families who meet the income restrictions can use those funds for a range of activities, including summer camps, language and music lessons, and after-school programs, in addition to tutoring.
Next week: “Predictable challenges and possibilities for effective tutoring at scale – Scanning the news on the emergence of tutoring programs after the school closures (Part 2)
International Education News 