Mar 2024
Realizing the Promise of High Dosage Tutoring at Scale: Preliminary Evidence for the Field
This technical report outlines preliminary results from the Personalized Learning Initiative showing that high dosage tutoring can be scaled and can work – even when delivered in the aftermath of the pandemic and in diverse academic settings.
Students who participated in tutoring during the school day saw large and positive gains on end-of-year test scores, at least in math; the results for reading are not yet conclusive. The impact on math scores is equivalent to about two-thirds of a year of learning, which would be enough to totally undo the effects of the pandemic for the average student. The impact on reading scores are inconclusive so far, but data collection is ongoing. These results provide hints that high dosage tutoring delivered in school can be scaled successfully.
We’ve seen firsthand the incredible impact of high dosage tutoring on Chicago students. We are proud to be a founding partner of the Personalized Learning Initiative and look forward to helping other school systems across the country follow in our footsteps.
CEO, Chicago Public Schools
As our students and policymakers continue to struggle with pandemic-era learning loss, the PLI represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost learning and close longstanding gaps in student achievement. The Education Lab is proud to work alongside our partners in determining how to cost-effectively deliver one of the most promising learning interventions to a student population in urgent need of support.
Faculty Co-Director, University of Chicago Education Lab
We are excited to see growing evidence supporting the effectiveness of high dosage tutoring. While this research is ongoing, it is important for school leaders and school system leaders to have access to interim reports as they continue to make hard decisions about how to address disparities in learning outcomes. We appreciate the leadership of the Education Lab and MDRC in this important and timely initiative and look forward to learning more from the future years of this project.
CEO, Accelerate – The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning
Personalized Learning Initiative Research Brief
Overview of the Personalized Learning Initiative, a nationwide R&D initiative to scale the benefits of tutoring.
Overcoming Pandemic-Induced Learning Loss
The Education Lab’s faculty co-directors, Dr. Jens Ludwig, professor at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Jon Guryan, professor at Northwestern University, published a paper commissioned by the Aspen Economic Strategy Group for its 2023 policy volume.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
Read our academic paper on the early Saga studies published in the American Economic Review.
2023 Video- University of Chicago Education Lab: Looking Back and Forward
Watch our latest video on the Education Lab’s history and vision for the future.
Latest Updates
National Study Finds In-School High Dosage Tutoring Is Successfully Accelerating Student Learning, Reversing Pandemic-Era Learning Loss
Initial findings from the Personalized Learning Initiative show that in-school high dosage tutoring meaningfully increased math learning for students in Chicago Public Schools and Fulton County Schools.
High dosage tutoring brings math gains, study finds
K-12 Dive’s Kara Arundel speaks with Education Lab senior research director Monica Bhatt about initial results from the Personalized Learning Initiative, which shows improvement in math for students from Chicago Public Schools and Georgia’s Fulton County Schools after participating in consistent, school-day tutoring programs.
How In-School Tutoring Benefits Both Attendance and Math Scores
Education Week’s Olina Banerji talks with Education Lab Senior Research Director Monica Bhatt about preliminary results from the Personalized Learning Initiative, which found that in-school tutoring is leading to positive effects on math scores.
