Personalized Learning
High-impact 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-impact tutoring to all students who could benefit. We work in partnership with school districts to understand whether and how we can scale high-impact 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-impact tutoring (HIT). 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 HIT supports so that more students might benefit.
Our evaluation of Saga Education found that students who participated in Saga’s HIT program for a single year gained 1-2.5 years of additional learning compared to students who did not.
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.
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.
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.
Saga Tech
The Education Lab conducted a study of a high-dosage math tutoring model that combines technology and tutors to improve high school math outcomes at a lower cost to schools.
Personalized Learning Initiative Research Brief
Overview of the Personalized Learning Initiative, a nationwide R&D initiative to scale the benefits of tutoring.
Research Brief: Personalized Learning Initiative
Learn more about the Personalized Learning Initiative.
Saga Technology Research Brief
Learn more about the Saga Technology study and its early results.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes among Adolescents
Read our academic paper on the early Saga studies published in the American Economic Review.
Latest Updates
Alternatives, Inc.: A move towards restorative practices in schools
Education Lab affiliate Anjali Adukia and Alternatives, Inc.’s Bessie Alcantara joined Gaynor Hall on WGN-TV Weekend Morning News to discuss the impacts of the implementation of restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools high schools.
Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons: What’s behind the drop in suspension rate at CPS?
WBEZ’s Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons sits down with WBEZ education reporter Sarah Karp to discuss findings from the Education Lab’s study of the impacts of restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools.
Black Chicago Public Schools Students Benefit More From Restorative Practices, Study Says
BET’s Nigel Roberts covers the Education Lab’s latest findings from a study of the impacts of restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools high schools.