Five Must-Haves of a Great Tutor

Over two years ago, COVID arrived, and since then, the world has been grappling with how to address the learning loss in our children. A 2021 McKinsey report found that in the 2020-2021 school year, children were at least five months behind in math and four months behind in reading.

To mitigate the problem, the US Department of Education announced that every state education agency (SEA) received approval of their American Rescue Plan (ARP) resulting in $122 billion of subsidized funds to all 50 states of (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) on January 18, 2022. As a result, schools and districts have looked to hire an unprecedented number of tutors to support their existing teams. According to Global Newswire, the tutoring market in the US is projected to hit $8.37 billion by 2025. In sum, families and schools are hiring millions of tutors, more than ever before, to minimize learning loss.

If you are one of them, a key question that isn’t always addressed is “How do I know the tutor hired will be effective?” For many, hiring a tutor boils down to availability, price, and word of mouth. Unfortunately, a significant number of dollars are spent before you know whether the tutor has been effective and whether or not the investment was worth it.

Here are five must haves to look for when hiring an effective tutor for your child. Great tutors are:

1. Relatable
Don’t just hire based on the years of experience or the letters behind his or her name. Just because a tutor has content knowledge, doesn’t mean they will be able to relate to the child. How comfortable the tutor makes the child, presenting information in a way that is relatable is important to the learning process.

Things to look for: Your child wants to go to tutoring or does not hesitate when asked. If your child does not want to be there, learning is not maximized no matter how much knowledge the tutor has.

2. Results-driven
Good tutors will want to confirm their work is making a difference and will ask about grades, test scores, confidence improvements, and feedback from teachers, students, and parents . Data informs decision-making, and a good result-driven tutor can determine where additional work is needed and determine what is most effective for their student.

Things to look for: If your tutor is not proactively asking about results and checking-in periodically between sessions, you should ask yourself whether the investment has paid off. While there are many variables that go into a child’s improvement, an active conversation about goals, metrics, and results has to be among them with everyone involved in the journey.

3. Socratic (or question-led tutoring)
Tutors encourage the child to do the talking, thinking, and cognitive lifting. They give children time to process their thoughts and come up with their own answers. The person doing the work is doing the learning.

Things to look for: If your tutor is talking most of the time, showing how to do the work, explaining the work and your child is simply saying “yes or no” and mimicking steps told to them, your child is not learning, they are placating and following steps. Great tutors help students think for themselves, not follow steps without understanding the purpose.

4. Fun
When you have fun, you want to be there. Dopamine is released, and the brain is receptive to new concepts. Learning when it is fun is a no brainer. To learn your basic facts, would you rather do a worksheet or play a basketball race game?

Things to look for: Your tutor should find creative and have interesting ways to make learning fun for your child. Why not shoot baskets, run around, draw pictures, and play games as part of the learning?

5. Challenging
Our bodies and brains grow when we are challenged. Challenges help build a growth mindset and give confidence to your child when completed successfully. It also teaches perseverance and grit. Even when children are behind, they can still be challenged to critically think and problem-solve, often practicing the necessary skills in the meantime to find their solutions.

Things to look for: If tutors are only sticking to questions your child knows, or doesn’t think they can handle challenges, the tutors are short-changing your child and not working them to their fullest potential. Every child is capable of completing challenges and feeling great about themselves when they succeed.

 

Sources and Recommended Related Resources

Learning Loss Due to Covid
Angrist, N., de Barros, A., Bhula, R, Chakera, S., Cummiskey, C., DeStefano, J., Floretta, J., Kaffenberger, M., Piper, B., Stern, J. (2021) Building back better to avert a learning catastrophe: Estimating learning loss from COVID-19 school shutdowns in Africa and facilitating short-term and long-term learning recovery. International Journal of Educational Development, 84. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102397

Engzell, P., Frey, A., Verhagen, M.D. (2021). Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. PNAS, 118(17):e2022376118. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118

Hevia, F.J., Vergara-Lope, S., Velásquez-Durán, A., Calderón, D. (2022) Estimation of the
fundamental learning loss and learning poverty related to COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. International Journal of Educational Development, 88. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102515

Storey, N., Slavin, R.E. (2020) The US Educational Response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Best Evid Chin Edu, 5,(2):617-633. https://www.bonoi.org/index.php/bece/article/download/94/73

Best Practices for Tutoring Strategies
Wood, W.B., Tanner, K.D. (2012) The Role of the Lecturer as Tutor: Doing What Effective Tutors Do in a Large Lecture Class. CBE-Life Sciences Education, (11):3-9.
http://doi.org/10/1187/cbe.11-12-0110

High-Dosage Tutoring
de Ree, J., Maggioni, M.A., Paulle, B., Rossignoli, D., Ruijs, N., Walentek, D. (2021) Closing the income-achievement gap? Experimental evidence from high-dosage tutoring in Dutch primary education. http://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/qepc2/download

de Ree, J., Maggioni, M.A., Paulle, B., Rossignoli, D., Walentek, D. (2021) High dosage tutoring in pre-vocational secondary education: Experimental evidence from Amsterdam. https://osf.io/r56um/download

Tutor Evaluation
Mostow, J., Aist, G. (2001) Evaluating tutors that listen: An overview of Project LISTEN. The MIT Press (169-234). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-10194-006

Ritter, S., Anderson, J.R., Koedinger, K.R., Corbett, A. (2007) Cognitive Tutor: Applied research in mathematics education. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14(2), 249-255. http://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194060

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Raising Teacher Expectations, Training Paraeducators, and Providing Small-Group Enrichment: Eurekii 3D at New Song Academy
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New Song Academy math scores were traditionally low, well below state and national averages.

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Using Eurekii 3D, we changed the math culture of the school to embrace problem-solving, rigor, building number sense and reasoning skills. We introduced the importance of using data to inform and stay on pace. We also built an enrichment culture to stretch and challenge the youngest students (PreK-3) to raise expectations across all grades.

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In 2023, New Song Academy was named one of the top 10 schools to have the highest math growth in Baltimore City.

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Eurekii ran several camps for Meade Cluster including MathMagic, a puzzles and games class, to sharpen math skills and several beginner coding classes to further challenge students and build analytical thinking skills.

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Based on the success of the camps, Eurekii was asked to continue providing classes in subsequent school years.

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University of Maryland School of Nursing ran summer programs for underserved middle school students. The program included two weeks of college and career mentorship as well as academic support. Many of the students were disengaged with traditional learning methods, so the University was looking for a partner to engage students with math and English in a much more creative way.

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Over 91% of the students reported enjoying the camp and over 72% reported an increase in math and English skills. Pre- and post-test results showed an increase of over 59%.

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Rosemont Elementary Middle school needed time to find math teachers and support staff. The original task was to bring in many tutors, however, that solution was expensive, not scalable, and did not fix their instructor pipeline challenge.

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Working with the school, Eurekii recruited, qualified, and trained eight people from the school community to support students while positions were being filled. Tutors went through content and pedagogical training as well as best-practice tutoring techniques. Four candidates were recommended for hire based on math content pre- and post-test results, as well as their ability to effectively tutor. The other four were not recommended but are now supporting their community with their new math understanding.

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By recruiting from the community, the school identified those who have connections with the school and students, making it easier for the tutors to stay with the school. The four recommended tutors became successful, full-time paraprofessionals.

Training Paraeducators to Teach Middle School Math: Lillie May Charter School
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Lillie May Charter School was not able to find certified math teachers for their 7th and 8th grade classes. They brought in two long-term substitutes– one who had math understanding but not the math pedagogy. The other was an experienced teacher, but not in 7th grade math. Lillie May wanted to invest in the two substitutes to become certified teachers through the alternative certification program.

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Eurekii trainer met with each sub once a week going through specific content the teachers were to teach that week. The sessions included content review to confirm math understanding and proficiency with several pedagogical strategies to best convey the content. Sessions included discussion of common misconceptions and areas for differentiation, as well as opportunities for enrichment and challenge.
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Results:

Students in grades 7 and 8 performed 100% to 300% better with two paraeducators than they did in past years with a certified math teacher. A record number of students enrolled in Baltimore City’s top most competitive high schools than ever in the school’s history.

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Surveys showed most students reported learning the same or more math than prior years and enjoyed the classes. Pre- and post-test results confirmed student participation and growth.

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Cherry Hill Elementary and Middle School had multiple reading levels in each grade and wanted more support during in-school reading time. Teachers were not able to differentiate and support all learners in the classroom.

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In tight coordination with the grade level teacher, the Eurekii team of tutors worked with a designated set of students for nine-week periods, ensuring growth and personalized attention within that time frame. Weekly lessons and detailed notes were shared and aligned with classroom expectations.

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Due to the positive results in the first nine weeks, the school expanded reading support from two to four grades for the remainder of the school year. The following year, the school kept all four reading grades and expanded the work to include an additional four math grades.

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Enrich Grades PreK-3 Learners: New Song Academy

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Out of the 74 participants, students receiving Eurekii tutoring services for five or more months, 70% improved at least one grade level, of which 15% improved at least two grade levels, compared with their peers who did not receive tutoring.

Eurekii students scored significantly higher on the standardized state test, outperforming the overall Baltimore City Public Schools average by 17% points and exceeding the state average by several percentage points.

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Our ‘training and management of tutors’ work has been featured in monthly district tutoring meetings and shared with other tutoring teams.

The AACPS tutoring program is a county-wide opportunity offered to those students who would benefit from additional tutoring. Students received targeted instruction in Math aligned to their performance on the beginning-of-year (BOY) diagnostic and ongoing progress monitoring using the Standards Mastery Assessments in i-Ready. The primary goal of the tutoring program is to move students toward grade-level performance in math based on individual student academic needs as measured by i-Ready diagnostic, grades, and MCAP scores. The pupil-to-tutor ratio is 4:1, and students meet with their tutor twice a week for a total of 1,025 sessions. Each session is 30-45 minutes in length.

The disaggregated outcomes demonstrate a decrease in the number of students who performed three or more grade levels below on their i-Ready Diagnostic Assessments and increased the number of students who performed at or above.
90% of students increased their iReady scores by at least 1-2 grade levels after our tutoring sessions.

Meade Heights Elementary School: 100% of students met or exceeded their stretch goals to move from below grade level to at or above grade level.

CLICK HERE to access the final data for this program.