New research from Stanford University has brought a ray of hope for Washington, D.C.’s students, especially Black children and those from low-income families. The research revealed that the city’s substantial investment in a tutoring initiative has borne fruit in its first year, significantly boosting academic performance and narrowing the persistent gaps in reading and math that have disproportionately affected these groups.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating effects on education motivated the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE) launch of the high-impact tutoring program. Targeting students in Wards 5, 7 and 8 — areas historically underserved by private tutoring services — the program aims to bridge the achievement gaps that have persisted for years.
The numbers are telling. During the 2022-2023 school year, over 5,100 students from 141 traditional public and charter schools participated in the program, with the focus squarely on those who have struggled the most. By the end of the year, students who received more than 20 tutoring sessions were performing at levels much closer to their peers who were not part of the program. Officials said the progress marks a critical step toward leveling the educational playing field.
“Those students who were receiving high-impact tutoring are shrinking the gap with their peers,” Nancy Waymack, director of research partnerships and policy at Stanford’s National Student Support Accelerator, told reporters about the D.C. program. “It’s exciting, the number of students that they served and it’s exciting that they are hitting the population that I think needs to receive high-impact tutoring the most.”
Furthermore, the program’s impact extends beyond academic performance to school attendance. The data reveals that students were more likely to attend school on days when they had a tutoring session, particularly among middle schoolers and those with a history of poor attendance. This appears to underscore the program’s role in improving academic outcomes and fostering a stronger school connection.
However, the report also points to disparities that need addressing. English learners were more likely to receive math tutoring and less likely to get help with reading, potentially because they had already received other services to improve English proficiency. Additionally, students with disabilities attended fewer tutoring sessions, likely due to their involvement in other specialized interventions.
Despite the promising results, the future of D.C.’s high-impact tutoring program remains in jeopardy. The federal funding that has been the backbone of the program is set to expire, posing a significant threat.
In response, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration reportedly has pledged $4.8 million in local funds to keep some programs running for the current school year. Additionally, D.C. has secured an extension from the U.S. Department of Education to use a limited amount of remaining coronavirus relief funds for tutoring. However, the need for sustained funding remains a pressing concern.
“The OSSE High Impact Tutoring Initiative’s first year of implementation represents a significant stride towards educational equity and acceleration of learning for students, particularly among D.C.’s at-risk students,” the researchers wrote. “We found that the initiative was successful in serving students of color and at-risk students for tutoring services and many of those students received a meaningful amount of tutoring.”
The initiative’s focus on high-impact tutoring has demonstrated clear benefits, they concluded. The researchers found that participating students were more likely to attend school on days they had tutoring, an effect that was particularly strong for students who were more likely to be absent in the prior school year.
Furthermore, the researchers said they observed that the academic gaps between students participating in tutoring and those that were not participating diminished over the course of the year on most available assessments. This effect was most notable for students who received tutoring at high dosages.
The attendance findings for District students are “the first pieces of evidence that demonstrate a positive effect of HIT on attendance,” the researchers wrote.
Moreover, the initiative’s targeted approach has proven effective in reaching students who are academically furthest behind including historically marginalized groups, with significant participation from Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino students.
They concluded that challenges largely related to logistics underscore the need for continuous improvement to maximize the initiative’s effectiveness.
“Given the multifaceted needs of these populations and the promising initial results, we anticipate the efforts to continually improve the Initiative’s effectiveness will continue throughout the life of the initiative,” the researchers determined.
Researchers said OSSE’s proactive measures through the High Impact Tutoring Initiative serve as a robust model of how targeted educational investments and collaboration between state education agencies and tutoring providers can facilitate improvements in student outcomes.
“Continued monitoring and adaptation informed by the initiative’s comprehensive data collection will be crucial to sustaining and expanding its impact, ultimately contributing to a more equitable educational landscape in Washington, D.C.,” they wrote.
Is there a way to get involved in the tutoring? Thank you