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Overview

High-dosage tutoring is a pedagogical approach that provides students with individualized support to accelerate learning. Through this approach, students receive targeted tutoring in small group settings. In these groups, students practice and master content knowledge and skills, build academic confidence, work collaboratively with their peers, and develop lasting relationships with their tutors. 

Tutoring delivered in high doses is one of the most effective evidence-based interventions for math and reading. There are many ways to implement a high-dosage tutoring model, and while aspects like group size, cadence, and duration are not the same across all models, many share the following best practices: 

  • Small groups – A 1:2 or 1:3 tutor-to-student ratio enhances student voice and further individualizes instruction and targeted interventions. 
  • High Dosage – The most effective programs implement sessions routinely for at least 90 minutes a week over the course of three sessions year-round. 
  • During school hours – Tutoring happens during the school day during a designated and protected time to increase attendance and levels of engagement. 
  • Rigorous curriculum – Models either provide their own rigorous tutoring curriculum or work collaboratively with classroom teachers to develop complementary materials that focus on skill-building.

What Makes This Innovative?

High Expectations with Unlimited Opportunities for All

Offering targeted, additional academic support ensures expectations remain high for all learners and increases opportunities for learners to meet those expectations.

Customization

Small group instruction and tailored tutoring materials that are closely aligned to a core curriculum ensure every student receives support that fits their needs.

Connection & Community

Small group instruction and frequency of sessions enable tutors and students to develop close, trusting relationships.

High-Dosage Tutoring Models on The Exchange

The high-dosage tutoring models on The Innovative Models Exchange all utilize tutoring best practices but also differ in key ways, like the content areas they focus on and how they develop curricula.

Grades K-8

BookNook

BookNook accelerates students’ reading and comprehension with standards-aligned, high-dosage, remote tutoring for students in grades K–8.

Grades 3-12
The GO Foundation

Great Oaks High-Dosage Tutoring

The GO Foundation’s high-dosage tutoring program places AmeriCorps members in historically under-resourced schools to implement innovative learning and mentoring strategies.

Grades 6-12
Saga Education

High-Impact Tutoring

High-impact tutoring by Saga Education strives for increased persistence and achievement in math by leveraging adult-learner relationships and in-a-school-day, personalized tutoring sessions.

Grades K-8

Ignite Reading

Ignite Reading provides a one-on-one virtual high-dosage tutoring program grounded in the science of reading that teaches every student the foundational skills they need to become a confident, fluent reader.

Kindergarten
Once

Once Early-Reading

The Once model teaches school support staff to implement high-dosage, one-on-one tutoring based in the science of reading, so that kindergarteners learn how to read fluently and independently.

Grades 1-8
Success For All Foundation

Success For All Tutoring

Success for All Tutoring is a research-proven literacy tutoring program offered through an easy-to-use web-based platform so that students can accelerate their reading skills.

Grades K-4
Reading Partners

Tutoring powered by Reading Partners

The Tutoring powered by Reading Partners model helps students become proud, confident readers through personalized one-on-one tutoring sessions grounded in the science of reading.

Resources from Transcend and Beyond

The following resources can help deepen your understanding of high-dosage tutoring and support the design and implementation of a high-quality model, whether it’s one from The Innovative Models Exchange or one your community designs.

National Student Support Accelerator
The Annenberg Institute, Brown University

The Student Support Accelerator is a free, comprehensive online toolkit of resources designed for district leaders to research, learn about, and implement highly rigorous and scalable tutoring programs.

Reinventing School with High-Dosage Tutoring
Transcend

This primer provides a brief overview of relevant research and implementation suggestions. It also includes school examples to explore.

Saga Coach
Saga Education

Saga Education offers a free and open-to-all virtual training program. Educators—tutors and teachers alike—get to participate in self-paced professional development around research-backed tutoring practices.

Targeted Intensive Tutoring
The Education Trust

This report synthesizes research into a few best practices and considerations, and offers starting questions and answers to kick-start a targeted, intensive tutoring program.