Saga Match

Education researchers have long known that small-group tutoring generates some of “the best learning conditions that we can devise,” partly because it individualizes instruction and provides an opportunity for mentorship (Bloom, 1984). Tutoring addresses a central challenge in traditional classroom instruction: teaching students with vastly differing levels of academic achievement. However, the per pupil cost of these programs is often significant, making it unsustainable for public school districts to provide it to students at large-scale.

Saga Education’s high-dosage tutoring provides daily 45 to 50-minute, two-on-one instruction to students during the school day at modest per-pupil costs. By recognizing that tutoring is fundamentally different from traditional classroom teaching, Saga can hire and supervise tutors who can be effective and are willing to do this work for a modest stipend for a year as public service. The pool of individuals who can effectively deliver this small-group instruction far outnumbers the pool of educators who can be successful classroom teachers; the latter requires expertise in classroom management and whole-group instruction that the former does not. Consequently, tutors do not need to have extensive prior teacher training, and their success does not depend on years of on-the-job learning, enabling Saga to deliver this individualized instruction for over 130 contact hours per year at costs that are more reasonable for a public school district to bear by hiring recent college graduates, retirees, or career-switchers.