Personalized Learning
High dosage tutoring – defined as tutoring embedded during the school schedule that ensures students work consistently on individualized instructional content with their tutor throughout the school year – is among the most effective and cost-effective learning interventions studied to date. However, schools still face barriers to bringing high dosage tutoring to all students who could benefit. We work in partnership with school districts to understand whether and how we can scale high dosage tutoring programs to reach tens of thousands more students without compromising effectiveness.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing disparities in educational performance and attainment along race and class lines. Without dramatic intervention, we risk permanently reversing decades of steady, incremental progress in improving student outcomes. More importantly, we risk shortchanging students–primarily Black and low-income students–the opportunity to learn for decades to come. Despite the scale and gravity of the challenge, we know that there is an effective solution to address learning loss: high dosage tutoring. Research by the Education Lab, in partnership with CPS and Saga Education, shows that when done well, this approach can double or even triple the rate of student learning.
The Education Lab, in partnership with MDRC and Saga Education, is helping districts scale and rigorously study high dosage tutoring supports so that more students might benefit.
Our evaluation of Saga Education found that students who participated in Saga’s high dosage tutoring program for a single year gained 1-2.5 years of additional learning compared to students who did not.
Personalized Learning Initiative
The Personalized Learning Initiative (PLI) is a moonshot to overcome pandemic learning loss and aims to bring high-dosage tutoring to students nationwide.
Personalized Learning Initiative: Tutor Corps Evaluation
The University of Chicago Education Lab is partnering with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to scale personalized tutoring in the wake of the pandemic.
Unlocking Literacy Potential: Bridging the Gap for High School Readers
In 2020, the Education Lab partnered with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to rigorously design, test, and scale the impact of its Structured Literacy program on students’ reading proficiency levels.
Coaching with Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL)
The Education Lab partnered with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to pilot the Coaching with CAL program, which offers high-dosage tutoring to students through education technology platforms.
Briefing for Chicago Public Schools Elected School Board Candidates
The Education Lab hosted a series of briefings for Chicago Public Schools’ elected school board candidates to provide practical tools and show how school board members can effectively use data to shape policy and improve student success.
How to Build It and Ensure They Will Come: Educators’ Advice on High-Dosage Tutoring Programs
Read a new brief from our partners at MDRC that highlights educators’ advice on implementing high-dosage tutoring programs.
NBER Working Paper: Can Technology Facilitate Scale? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of High Dosage Tutoring
This paper outlines results from the Education Lab’s study of a high-dosage tutoring model–what we call “Saga Technology”–which found that substituting some tutor time with educational technology can reduce costs by one-third and halve the number of tutors needed without compromising effectiveness.
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.
Latest Updates
Making the most of tutoring: 4 strategies for success
MDRC’s Barbara Condliffe and Shira Mattera share successful strategies from the Personalized Learning Initiative, our national study of the impact of high-dosage tutoring across the country.
Leaders Asked for More Tutors, and Schools Got Them. Is That Enough?
EdSurge’s Daniel Mollenkamp highlights the preliminary findings from the Education Lab’s Personalized Learning Initiative, which suggests in-school tutoring can lead to math gains.
Anjali Adukia on restorative practices in schools
Crime Lab affiliate Anjali Adukia joins the Probable Causation Podcast with Jennifer Doleac to discuss research on the use of restorative justice practices in schools.
