As Schools Grapple with Post-Pandemic Learning Loss, University of Chicago Education Lab Leads $18 Million Project to Scale “High Dosage” Tutoring, Accelerate Student Learning
Multi-year study, conducted with MDRC, will enroll tens of thousands of students in one of the largest social policy experiments ever conducted in U.S.
CHICAGO—Today the University of Chicago Education Lab announced it is leading a cutting edge research project to determine how the nation’s schools can close student achievement gaps and overcome pandemic-era learning loss. The multi-year project will help school districts across the country effectively scale “high-dosage” tutoring – an intervention proven to double or triple the amount of learning in a single academic year. The Education Lab will work alongside MDRC and newly-formed nonprofit Accelerate to engage thousands of students in school districts nationwide. This work is supported by an $18 million donation from America Achieves, Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, and Arnold Ventures.
“As students continue to struggle with pandemic-era learning loss, this project represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost learning and close longstanding gaps in student achievement,” said Monica Bhatt of the University of Chicago’s Education Lab. “The Education Lab is proud to work alongside our partners in determining how to cost-effectively deliver one of the most promising learning interventions – at scale – to a student population in urgent need of support.”
High-dosage tutoring – at least 30 minutes of intensive, individualized instruction three or more days per week – is one of the most effective learning interventions studied to date. Given this promising evidence, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently called on school districts across America to provide tutoring to every student in need of support. However, high-dosage tutoring requires an extensive number of highly-trained tutors, making it cost-prohibitive for many school districts. By designing a massive randomized control trial of the sort that provides gold standard evidence in medicine, the Education Lab and MDRC will help school districts use technology to lower the number of tutors required – determining if and how it is possible to scale high-dosage tutoring without compromising effectiveness.
“High-dosage tutoring is providing our children the support they need to recover from the learning challenges of the pandemic and reach their full academic potential,” said Pedro Martinez, CEO of Chicago Public Schools. “We’re proud to be an anchor partner in this project so that we can reach students across Chicago and learn how we can best tailor our supports.”
To conduct the project, the Education Lab has enlisted the support of leading research non-profit MDRC. The research team will partner closely with multiple school districts across the country, including Chicago Public Schools as the anchor partner in this work. The research team will also benefit from the expertise of leading researchers at Northwestern University, Stanford University, and the University of Toronto. Together, this research team is committed to finding solutions for improving public education and will work together to carry out this research agenda.
“The Education Lab is one of our nation’s premier educational research organizations, and we are thrilled to have them spearheading this project,” said Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate. “Their commitment to rigorous research and proven track record of partnership make them an excellent choice to support school districts and policymakers seeking strategies that advance student outcomes.”
Download the press release here.