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.
2025 Economic Report of the President
This report cites 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.
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.
Latest Updates
A restorative approach to student discipline shows promise in reducing suspensions and arrests
Suspensions are a common form of official discipline implemented in American schools, but can alternative approaches prove effective in reducing harmful student behavior?
UChicago Education Lab leaders on NAEP scores: It’s worse than you think but there is a solution
The latest NAEP scores are devastating—but as bad as they are, the real problem is even bigger. Test scores have been declining since 2013 and then got exponentially worse during the pandemic. What is going on?
Jens Ludwig: Parents of private school students like the Lab School are also worried about the future of education
Education Lab faculty co-director Jens Ludwig pens and op-ed about parents’ concerns with America’s public schools.
