Although high-impact tutoring has proven essential for helping students make up for lost time, ESSER funding is expected to end in September 2024, with a possible extension to 2026. With federal funding only covering 10% of education costs, districts must identify new ways to invest in learning recovery efforts and effective practices like tutoring.

In the latest white paper, Accelerate Learning Now, Saga proposes several alternative strategies to help students catch up on their learning. Learn to identify additional funding resources, prospective partners, and other tactics to help your students.

What is High Impact Tutoring?

High-impact tutoring involves small group sessions with a 3:1 student-to-tutor ratio, working with the same tutor for 30-60 minutes, three times a week, for 10 to 36 weeks. Tutors are well-trained and supported, using a tutoring curriculum that supports a teacher’s curriculum.

About Saga

Saga Education is a national leader in high-impact, in-school tutoring that leverages both the power of human capital and technology to accelerate student outcomes and create more equitable learning for students.

The post Schools Need New Plans to Help Students Catch Up When ESSER Funding Ends appeared first on Saga Education.

In mid-February, the National Education Association, the nation’s largest union, endorsed in-school-day high-impact tutoring. Here’s the heart of what they said:  “The research is clear: high-impact tutoring improves student learning. Over the past few years, finding a consensus around the most effective strategies and interventions to address post-COVID learning recovery has largely been elusive. However, there is widespread agreement that high-impact, or high-dosage, tutoring holds tremendous promise. Where it has been properly implemented, high-impact tutoring produces large learning gains for many students, particularly those who have fallen behind academically.

That’s the conclusion of an increasing number of researchers, school leaders, and classroom teachers who have seen the practice in action. High-impact tutoring has been shown to be 20 times more effective than standard tutoring models for math and 15 times more effective for reading. Studies demonstrate that the practice increases students’ learning by an additional three to 15 months across grade levels. High-impact tutoring has not been enacted in many districts, but it should be.

As one of the two co-designers who pioneered in-school-day tutoring in a US public school (Mike Goldstein and I, at Match Charter High School in 2004), and subsequently, as co-founder of the nation’s trusted nonprofit partner for helping states and districts get tutoring right (Saga Education), I was thrilled to read this important announcement. Here’s why.

Replicating the Success of High-Dosage Tutoring

Tutoring in public schools began in 2004 at a little school in Boston. There, our students, who came to our high school in an open admission lottery, were, on average, three years behind grade level when they enrolled as high school freshmen. That startled me. Prior to Match, I had served with the MA Department of Education for nine years, including a period as Deputy Commissioner, and the fact that the average ninth grader comes to public high school in Massachusetts cities three years behind grade level was never discussed or even noticed. And yet, it was the reality on the ground, not only at this little charter school near Boston University but across the nation’s cities.

When kids come to 9th grade three years behind, how does a teacher, no matter how knowledgeable of their content, industrious, committed, and determined, catch kids up in a class where the heterogeneity of kids could be as wide as 6 to 8 years? Especially for rookie teachers and even those in their second year (together, they comprise 50% of urban teachers), differentiating instruction to meet the kids where they are is a hypothetical impossibility. And therefore, kids get triaged. The stumbling block–the chokepoint toward high school graduation–is Algebra 1. Many students fail high school Algebra 1 because they haven’t mastered the prerequisite skills that should be gained in middle school–ratios, fractions, proportions, and decimals. Kids who fail Algebra 1 graduate at a rate one-fourth as high as those who pass it because many drop out for academic failure, and Algebra 1 is the most failed course in HS. So we face a structural, chronic crisis that falls mercilessly on the backs of kids who come from families experiencing poverty, which in this country means, for the large part, kids who are Black and brown.

So we took this idea of high-dosage tutoring out of the little Match School in Boston and tried it in Houston, TX. And it worked there. And we took it to Lawrence, MA, a district under state receivership–and it worked there. Then, Stamford, CT; Chicago, IL; New York City, D.C.; Broward County, FL; Charleston, SC; Providence, RI–and it works when done correctly.

Then COVID arrived. With kids’ rate of learning stymied, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists all said to look at the evidence about tutoring.

Leveraging High-Impact Tutoring as a Tool for Educational Innovation

And if they’d asked, they would have found teachers who agreed. Teachers like those in Lawrence, MA, who initially were afraid of tutors coming to their schools (“They’re coming to take your jobs!” some declared). Instead, teachers would give their struggling students notes to work with their tutor on this standard. Teachers would come into the tutoring room and watch their kids behave differently from the way they behave in a class of 25 or 30. In a tutorial of 2 or 3, kids show what they know and are not afraid to show what they don’t know, unlike a classroom where many would disengage or deflect or hide from peer scrutiny. In tutorials, tutors can work on what the students need in real-time, personalized to where they are.

I’ve recently visited teachers in Orlando, FL, and Odessa, TX, who have their tutors in their classrooms. The teacher oversees the tutoring, gives tutors their own small groups, and keeps some groups for themselves. There’s a partnership. Teachers now say they can’t do without the tutors.

So–when the teachers union endorses this idea, the possibility that this can last just gained a major boost. Interestingly, plenty of others, including conservative groups that are typically skeptical of public education’s chances, say they like tutoring too because the evidence is clear that there’s a strong return on investment.

Investment in expanding tutoring is a must. Multiple federal funding streams, including Title 1, AmeriCorps, and federal work-study funds that could pay the wages of college undergrads to serve as tutors, can and should be used (and, in some places, are being used) to support tutoring. With the support of teachers, this intervention has traction. It could be a lever not only to support kids but to support their hardworking teachers…and to redesign how we educate kids in this country for generations to come.

Alan Safran, Co-Founder, CEO, and Chair of the Board of Saga, has a 30-year public education career specializing in high-impact tutoring programs. He holds a law degree from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. Alan splits his time between Boston and Washington, DC, with his wife, three adult children, and a black labrador named Colbie.

LEARN HOW SAGA CAN HELP YOUR STUDENTS SUCCEED!

The post The NEA Endorses High-Impact Tutoring in Schools, Hope for Student Success appeared first on Saga Education.

Tutoring is a proven method to help P–12 students improve their learning. Still, it has typically been limited to those who can afford it. Previous attempts to expand tutoring nationwide have failed, partly because they relied on volunteers and placed the burden on parents to find tutors for their children. The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) has shown a decline in math and reading scores, with the most significant decline in math occurring in 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the academic progress of P–12 students, especially those from high-poverty communities.

In a recent white paper, Saga Education explores the potential of using Federal Work-Study (FWS) as a funding source to place college students in support roles for P–12 students, such as tutoring, coaching, and mentoring. Research has demonstrated that high-intensity, personalized tutoring provided during the school day can lead to significant learning gains. To expand tutoring beyond 2024, we can utilize programs like the FWS program.

The FWS program has provided financial aid and work experience to college students from lower-income backgrounds for nearly 60 years. It was established in 1964 to promote part-time employment opportunities for low-income college students. It has undergone updates and reauthorizations over the years. In 2000, Congress mandated that 7 percent of FWS funds be allocated to community service activities. 

In May 2023, the Department of Education urged colleges and universities to publicly commit to using a minimum of 15 percent of their FWS funds in the next two years to pay college students who work in community service. So far, 49 colleges and universities have agreed to use a minimum of 15 percent of their FWS funds for beneficial tutoring collaborations with P–12 public schools. 

Several higher education institutions (HEIs) and organizations are highlighted in this white paper for their use of FWS to expand high-impact tutoring (HIT) programs:

• George Washington University
• Grand Valley State University
• Step Up Tutoring
• Salisbury University
• Spelman College
• Teach for America – Ignite Fellowship

The post Leveraging the Federal Work-Study Program to Fund High-Impact Tutoring in P-12 Schools appeared first on Saga Education.

Experts Argue that the Nation’s “Biggest Problem” is “Challenging, But Not Insurmountable”

A panel of economists and education leaders sounded the alarm on the pandemic’s potential lifelong impacts on schoolchildren at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC, last week.

Huge slowdowns in learning persist across the U.S. Students have fallen several grades behind. Absenteeism continues to rise to record levels.

There is still time to fix these issues.

The University of Chicago Education Lab’s Jens Ludwig, a panelist at the event and co-author of a paper titled “Overcoming Pandemic-Induced Learning Loss,” called the Covid learning interruption the “biggest problem facing America.”

Schools Need More Resources, Time, and Accountability for Recovery

Panelists issued a clarion call to policymakers to dedicate more resources and extend the time allowed to expend federal recovery funding to school districts to address learning needs. In addition, they called for greater accountability in ensuring that school districts use the money for evidence-based interventions “that are most effective in helping students learn.”

In a chapter in the Aspen Economic Strategy Group’s book Building a More Resilient Economy, University of Chicago Education Lab co-directors Jonathan Guryan and Jens Ludwig argue that greater investment in learning recovery efforts will be necessary to “avoid lifelong negative consequences for a generation of 50-million school-age children.”

Economists estimate that students who fall behind in school because of pandemic-induced learning interruptions face a “collective $900 billion loss in future earnings.”

Panel Discussion on Covid Learning Interruptions

Ludwig was joined by Nat Malkus, a senior fellow and deputy director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute; Nakia Towns, chief operating officer at Accelerate Learning; and moderator Melissa Kearney, director of The Aspen Economic Strategy Group.

Robert Gordon, Deputy Director for Economic Mobility, White House Domestic Policy Council, offered the keynote remarks for the event. He laid out four key points:

1. The Biden-Harris administration firmly agrees about the urgency to address the pandemic’s serious harm to student learning.
2. The billions that the nation spent responding to the pandemic in schools,  particularly in high poverty schools, have likely made an important difference.
3. There’s more we need to do to help schools help students to recover academically, and high-impact tutoring is an effective strategy.
4. Looking forward, we are eager to sustain those investments in every way we can.

Federal pandemic relief funding for public schools – known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund – will expire in September 2024. The government is offering school districts opportunities to seek extensions to spend funds into 2025 to continue to help students.

Education Helps Economic Growth, Mobility and Equality

Kearney argued that, “We owe it to this generation of students to make up for the educational setbacks that they were saddled with. And it is in our nation’s economic interest to do so.”

Ludwig contended that the federal funding provided to schools was probably not enough given the scale of the problem. While $190 billion is a big number, it represents funds spread over many years and only represents a 6 percent increase of what the U.S. already spends to educate public school children, he says.

“The federal assistance is basically running out,” he said. “It’s like we’re quitting at the finish line. Human capital is what drives economic growth. If you care about economic growth, you should really care about this.”

He added: “If the thing you care about instead is economic mobility and equality, you should really care about this. The kids most adversely affected by the pandemic … are the most economically and socially vulnerable kids in the country.”

High-impact Tutoring Helps Accelerate Learning

Panelists highlighted high-dosage tutoring as a key strategy for helping closing academic achievement gaps. While tutoring’s power to accelerate learning is well documented, only about 1 in 10 students receive high-dosage tutoring in their schools. Panelists acknowledged that implementing high-dosage tutoring during the school day, with well-trained tutors, several days a week can be difficult for school districts. Ludwig pointed to studies of Saga Education’s high-dosage tutoring approach in partnership with Chicago Public Schools as evidence of the power of tutoring to accelerate learning.  In those studies, students gained as much as 2 ½ years of extra learning in one tutoring period embedded into their regular school day for one school year.

“It’s challenging, but not insurmountable. The best evidence that we have around tutoring says that if you are able to do this for a school year, you can recover. The average four months of learning in K-12 that children are behind, you can recover in one year,” said Dr. T. Nakia Towns, Chief Operating Officer at Accelerate. Towns cited Baltimore City, Maryland and Guilford County, North Carolina as examples of school districts that have effectively implemented tutoring on a larger scale to help students.

“Baltimore City Public Schools were able to offer tutoring to 15,000 kids in the 2022-23 school year on an enrollment of about 70,000 students. This year, they expect to approach 20,000 kids,” she said. “Guilford County, North Carolina, similarly 12,000 students were tutored last year.  There are districts penetrating 25-35% of kids that are able to receive tutoring. They are prioritizing the kids who were most vulnerable in terms of the pandemic.”

Ludwig also highlighted ways to reduce the cost of tutoring by incorporating technology. He cited another study with Saga Education and Chicago Public Schools where instead of working every school day with a tutor, students alternated days between working with a tutor one day and and the next day using a computer-assisted learning platform. Taking this approach reduced the cost of tutoring by one-third without affecting learning outcomes.

Student Absenteeism Rises

But getting students to school to take advantage of tutoring has become a second major challenge. Malkus said that student absenteeism doubled during the pandemic.

“The last time we had good data on that was 2022, when 29 percent of kids missed 10 percent of the year,” he said. “It’s gone down in 33 states but only by a few percentage points. That’s going to get in the way of pandemic recovery. Unfortunately, the kids who are most likely to be chronically absent are the kids who are in otherwise disadvantaged environments.”

Malkus said that “if we’re having kids not showing up for school at high rates, we’re looking at the same problem with high-dosage tutoring programs.”

High-Dosage Tutoring Can Help Address Absenteeism

Towns noted that one elementary school in Baton Rouge she visited had issues with students being chronically late to school, missing the first 20 to 40 minutes. The principal at the school offered tutoring at the beginning of school.

“When they rolled out the virtual tutoring program and communicated to parents that your child has an opportunity to engage with this literacy program and every day it will start promptly at 8:30,” Towns said, “[the principal] noted to me attendance has improved because parents thought, ‘Well, we [don’t want our kids] to miss something that is different.’”

Tutors, Teachers, Tech Needed

Gordon said that the US Department of Education has been encouraging colleges and universities to use Federal Work Study to pay some or all of the wages of college students for tutoring in K-12 while providing a “great clinical opportunity for future teachers in America.” Through the National Partnership for Student Success, school districts, nonprofits and higher education institutions are working to support more Americans serving as tutors.

“We need teachers and we need tutors, and if we can get technology to help them both succeed so much better for the students,” Gordon said. “We want to do everything in our power to close learning gaps. Tutoring is an enormously powerful tool for achieving that goal.”

Watch the full presentation.

The post Covid Learning Interruptions Could Cause Lifelong Harm to a Generation of Schoolchildren appeared first on Saga Education.

High-impact tutoring is a proven solution for learning loss, accelerating learning, and increasing student achievement. However, another benefit is its capacity to support and strengthen the teacher pipeline by giving non-educators a practical, supportive, and meaningful introduction to becoming an educator.

Among the many challenges school districts face is hiring great teachers. Many educators are burnt out and leaving the field, wreaking havoc on retention. At the same time, schools are under tremendous pressure to perform, close opportunity gaps, and improve student outcomes. These factors are only possible to address with adequate staffing and well-trained teachers.

How High-Impact Tutoring Benefits Tutors & Schools

Tutoring opens doors to education for those who may have yet to have an opportunity to work with students or even consider a career as an educator. Tutors who complete a fellowship with Saga Education get firsthand experience working with students, teachers, parents, and districts while they learn valuable skills to help accelerate learning and differentiate lessons.

High-Impact Tutoring Naturally Builds Tutor to Teacher Pipelines

At Saga, many fellows become inspired by their work and have a newfound passion for helping students achieve academic success, opening future opportunities. Saga fellows are well prepared to pursue a career path in education after completing a service year as a high-impact tutor. Tutors get to experience working with students to improve learning and form meaningful relationships with their tutoring groups and follow them throughout the school year. They get to know the kids personally, advocate for their learning, and provide critical social-emotional skills in a way many kids may not have experienced.

Forming meaningful connections with students and becoming relentless champions for their success bolsters the tutors as much as it does the students in their groups. After all, seeing the impact one person can have in kids’ lives and the power to enact positive changes for their futures makes work fulfilling and gives meaning to your day.

Many teachers get into education to make a meaningful impact on students. When tutors experience this firsthand, it makes considering a teaching career a logical next step. Sourcing tutors from universities can be a viable tutor to teacher pipeline into education for current college students and give them real-world experience in education.

High-Impact Tutoring Provides Valuable Experience in Education

High-impact tutoring also builds practical skills that can be difficult to learn from books or classes. The experience helps fellows learn to guide students through lessons and differentiate them based on students’ needs. These are practical skills that many educators do not get to practice until they start student teaching rotations. But, they are valuable for providing context for the academic work they may do if they choose to pursue a career in education. In the same way that some student teachers realize during their rotations that teaching may not be the right path for them, many tutors realize that it is the right career choice after having experienced the power of high-impact tutoring firsthand.

In addition to helping identify education as a potential career, it can also help a tutor expand their professional network. When done right, high-impact tutors collaborate with the teachers and school staff. They work closely with schools to ensure students meet their goals and understand the materials. Teachers can provide feedback and helpful tips, which can be invaluable for those working with students for the first time.

Professional communication can be a new challenge for any young adult just entering the workforce, and a tutor to teacher experience, or even tutoring alone, can enhance their understanding of effective communication and the power of working as a team to support student success.

High-Impact Tutoring Opens Additional Resources for School Districts

For school districts, using a live-online, high-impact tutoring format opens up the pool of talent they can draw from, creating a national pipeline into education rather than relying on local schools and resources. Expanding their resource pool means more potential for staffing and addressing school needs, even when local resources may be unavailable or exhausted.

Measures to secure resources and tools to close opportunity gaps for students include expanding the teacher pipeline and finding creative ways to engage college students in the educational process.

While the benefits of high-impact tutoring for students are proven, the benefits for the education sector are also valuable. Increasing the potential talent pool for schools with a tutor to teacher pipeline, districts across the country can help meet the need that our schools face in addressing learning gaps, ensuring students are college-ready, and have opportunities for brighter futures.

Learn more about the benefits of live-online tutoring and how experience as a tutor can inspire a career in education.

Interested in becoming a Saga Fellow? Serve with Saga and make a difference in the lives of youth while building valuable leadership skills.

The post Build Educator Pipelines with High Impact Tutoring appeared first on Saga Education.

After a three-year journey with us, during which she spearheaded some of the most significant technological advancements in education, Krista Marks is entering semi-retirement and stepping down from her full-time role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Tom Fischaber, who has collaborated closely with Krista for many years, will serve as our Interim CTO.

We’re delighted to share that she will transition into the part-time role of strategic advisor to Saga, continuing to guide us and advocate for our mission in education technology. Krista’s talent for communicating the significance of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI, and its impact on students and tutors is unparalleled, and we look forward to her continued insights.

Krista Marks and Tom Fischaber

For 25 years, Tom has steered technology teams and projects to deliver award-winning products and services. “I am honored to take on this role at such a pivotal moment in Saga’s journey. As we gear up to empower districts to run their high-impact tutoring programs at scale, I’m excited about the transformative potential that technology and AI holds to further our reach and impact, and I am excited and fully committed to driving its success,” says Tom.

Before taking his current role as VP of Technical Operations at Saga in 2020, Tom was VP of Operations and Co-Founder of Woot Math, where he managed a suite of award-winning, research-backed software solutions. Tom also co-led sales, marketing, and district implementations for Woot Math, reaching over 100,000 students nationwide.

Tom was an Executive Producer at the Walt Disney Company after Disney acquired Kerpoof, a company he co-founded and was COO. At Disney, Tom led internet-scale product management, content management, and UGC moderation teams for Disney Online. Tom worked closely with other Disney business units (including Pixar, Disney Parks and Resorts, and Disney Cruise Line) to scale and port Kerpoof’s innovative software to Disney.com, which resulted in the award-winning Create portal. Under Tom’s leadership, Disney developed software that transformed how they monitored online experiences for kids.

Tom earned his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

We are grateful to Krista for establishing a strong foundation and vision for us to build upon and look forward to new heights with Tom.

The post Celebrating Krista Marks and Welcoming Tom Fischaber as our new Interim CTO appeared first on Saga Education.

by Robert Runcie, CEO of Chiefs for Change and former Superintendent, Broward Country Public Schools; and Alan Safran, CEO of Saga Education

This perspective will feel to some educators and families like it is ahead of its time–because parents, teachers, and most students disliked remote classroom teaching during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and hardly
want to think about it now. And yet, we are urging a new and crucial look at how live-online tutoring can and does provide high-quality instructional support for our students and is crucial to accelerating learning and recovery.

We need look no further than recent news reports to see the devastating results of the nation’s forced experiment on remote teaching: “Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by Two Years of Pandemic,” The 74 declared.

Given all that, it would be easy for K–12 districts to insist on providing only in-person learning experiences for students. That would be a huge mistake for the students we serve.

Tutoring remotely—as part of the regular school day—may be the best pathway for districts to accelerate learning and recovery.

Despite the many challenges of teaching students in remote, online classrooms, it turns out that tutoring them remotely—as part of the regular school day—may be the best pathway for districts to boost academic achievement and for scaling tutoring to reach some of the most underserved students in our country. Two recent studies of live-online tutoring programs in Italy and Spain, for example, showed encouraging signs that tutoring remotely can help children succeed.  Note that we are distinguishing remote tutoring, which is online with a live tutor, versus online instruction, which often means a student sitting in front of a computer-based practice platform without another human.

In the U.S., The New York Times recently called for more research into the effectiveness of live-online tutoring, calling it “potentially transformative” because it “could greatly expand the pool of trained tutors available to schools.” It also could become a more cost-effective solution for districts where the cost of making in-person high-impact tutoring widely available would be too great. Trish Cook, a teacher at Uplift Gradus Preparatory, a charter public school in DeSoto, Texas, recounted her fourth-graders’ experiences with a fully remote math tutoring service: “These were trained tutors—it was clear they had some educational and leadership background, and morale went up.”

Here are three reasons district leaders should consider scalable, in-school-day live-online tutoring programs now and for the long term:

Live-online tutoring is the only equitable solution.

All students can benefit from working with a tutor throughout their K–12 careers–especially at the critical leverage points of grade 3 literacy and grade 9 math (students who are proficient in reading by grade 3, like students who pass algebra 1 by grade 9, have a four times greater graduation rate than students who do not reach these milestones). Finding in-person tutors (let alone in-person teachers) is a serious challenge for many urban and rural districts. But open up a national pool of remote tutors, and the labor shortage is resolved. Districts then can be very selective about which tutors they want–even adding tutors who speak the languages of their students when they can’t secure local tutors with this skill.

Students really can form relationships with their tutor.

During the first year of COVID-19, teachers struggled to build personal connections with students because they were delivering remote lessons to virtual classrooms of 25 or more. Saga sites around the US have shown that students can and will form strong relationships with their remote tutors.  The key is that the platform for remote tutoring must recreate in the vertical world of the computer screen what was created in the traditional horizontal world of in-person tutoring across a table.  Cameras, audio, and chat need to be on, and the students in the room at school need to be supervised by an onsite adult to ensure this.  And importantly, tutors can work remotely with two to four students at a time and continue working with the same students each day, which allows individualized instruction and peer-to-peer interactions.

Live-online tutoring offers instructional advantages over in-person tutoring.

Some of this revolves around the confidentiality uniquely provided by live-online tutoring. Students tutored in person are often embarrassed to truthfully tell their tutor if they’re ready to move on from a lesson, but in the remote environment, the tutor asks the students privately to chat a number on a 1-10 scale, and the tutor can then adapt their next lesson to accommodate the student who was too shy to admit they didn’t feel ready to proceed. Likewise, it is crucial for tutors to be observed and given on-the-job coaching; but if an observer sits at an in-person tutorial table, the dynamics will change. Remote observations, done surreptitiously and frequently by the supervisor on the tutoring platform, can provide reality for the observer and actionable feedback for the tutor to improve (not to mention a quality audio/visual recording to roll for the tutor, like a coach would do to improve an athlete’s techniques).

Consistently high-quality live-online tutoring can be delivered at scale, by districts, to the students who need it most. It offers an immediate pathway to accelerate learning and recovery and the possibility of a long-term solution to redesign schools and close persistent and unacceptable opportunity gaps. We now have the means to do so.  Do we have the will?

Learn more about how high-impact tutoring is helping with learning recovery.

The post Parents and Teachers Uniformly Disliked Teaching Remotely. Here’s Why Tutoring Remotely is Different and Can Be Key to Supercharging Learning and Recovery appeared first on Saga Education.

We proudly welcome Jennie Magiera—the Global Head of Education Impact at Google—to Saga Education’s national governing board. She is the bestselling author of “Courageous Edventures,” and the founder and president of the nonprofit Our Voice Alliance (whose mission is to elevate marginalized voices and perspectives to improve equity and empathy in education). Previously, she was the Chief Innovation Officer for the Des Plaines School District, the Digital Learning Coordinator for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, and a Chicago Public Schools teacher. A White House Champion for Change, Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator and TEDx Speaker, Jennie works to improve education globally. Jennie is also passionate about transforming professional learning, having served on the Technical Working Group for the U.S. Department of Education’s National Educational Technology Plan, co-founding PLAYDATE and other conferences.

“We are deeply honored to have Jennie Magiera join our board. Her expertise and vision will help accelerate Saga’s mission,” says Saga CEO Alan Safran. “Jennie has a demonstrated track record and commitment to establishing equitable learning opportunities for youth, which is grounded in her experience as a teacher. She knows firsthand the power of caring relationships and is joining at a perfect time as Saga develops cutting-edge technological tools through the lens of relationship-centric design. This approach aims to expand Saga’s reach, impact, and scale of high-impact tutoring.”

For those interested in staying updated with Jennie’s insights and work, you can follow her on X at @MsMagiera. To delve deeper into her innovative educational approach, check out her book here.

The post Google’s Global Head of Education Impact Jennie Magiera joins Saga’s board appeared first on Saga Education.

School districts across the United States are looking for solutions to address learning loss, accelerate learning, and reduce operational demands. While remediated learning for students who have fallen behind grade level is important, it is crucial for all schools to offer access to high-impact tutoring for each student. In doing so, schools can increase student outcomes and district standing without draining school and district resources.

Effective high-impact tutoring starts with literacy and math for every student

Saga Education’s high-impact tutoring program is a research-backed, proven solution to teach foundational skills, accelerate learning, and provide students with small-group instruction during the school day as part of regular class time. Without hiring more classroom teachers or overcoming the logistical complications that many proposed (and implemented) solutions require, high-impact tutoring still demonstrates major improvements to student achievement.

Every student should have the opportunity to work with an in-school tutor at least once or twice in their primary and secondary educational career. Why? Because apart from benefiting the schools and school districts by increasing student achievement and improving outcomes, in-school tutoring offers students the space, instruction, practice, and connections necessary to succeed in school.

Small group tutoring also allows students to interact with each other, engaging in cooperative learning, and practicing group learning dynamics. They can observe how other students approach material, and provide insight and assistance to classmates and group members.

Students can take turns helping or being helped, increasing their comfort level with the material and group work. These experiences can deepen learning, bolster confidence, and build resilience in overcoming challenges.

See how Saga works in the classroom to support students and improve outcomes.

Focusing efforts in math and early literacy allows schools to reap the many benefits of in-school tutoring and small group learning while targeting the content areas that show the most impact for students.

School Districts should implement in-school tutoring where it will have the greatest impact

Implementing any learning solution can be complex. School districts considering implementing in-school tutoring to accelerate learning must target areas where it will have the greatest impact.

Focus areas for tutoring should start where the research has demonstrated successful outcomes. According to the studies, the most effective content areas for tutoring are early literacy and 9th grade math.

Specifically, early literacy tutoring increases success in reading, which sets students up for success for the rest of their educational career. If a student experiences difficulty with reading, their chances of successfully graduating from high-school are decreased. In fact, setting students up with literacy tutoring early on can significantly increase high school graduation rates.

Similarly, foundational math skills taught in 9th grade algebra are imperative to success and high school completion. Focusing on these priority areas can help districts determine success of high-impact tutoring in their districts, and use their resources most effectively.

Research shows that third-grade reading proficiency & success in Algebra I increase the likelihood of graduation four-fold

Learners who meet grade-level expectations for reading early on are more likely to succeed in school. Efforts to improve early literacy, increase stamina, and remediate learners who are below grade level have been less successful than students need.

However, organizations like our partner, Success For All provide evidence-based, standards-aligned, effective in-school tutoring in literacy with positive results. Success For All has proven that early tutoring helps students learn to read so that they can read to learn.

Focused, in-school tutoring efforts to teach literacy skills is highly effective before 4th grade. As kids get older, literacy tutoring becomes less effective. Because of this, it is critical that districts provide early literacy tutoring when students are first learning phonics and reading skills, not after they have fallen behind the pacing of their peers.

As students progress through grade levels, they encounter different challenges. They reach another increased learning demand when they approach 9th grade algebra. Foundational math skills set students up for success. They need Algebra I skills in subsequent math courses and other subjects that require a firm grasp on algebraic concepts and reasoning. This is another opportunity for school districts to set their students and teachers up for success instead of waiting until students have fallen behind.

By 9th grade, students may be approaching learning and social situations differently than they were when learning to read, but the need for small group support, 1:1 instruction, monitoring for progress, and remediation all remain. Implementing high-imact tutoring into classroom time for Algebra I students provides all of these inputs, while allowing for personalized instruction.

High-impact tutoring in algebra has shown to significantly improve student outcomes across the board–from math class to their non-tutored subjects. Tutoring with fidelity in one subject, in this case Algebra I, can lead to improved grades and increased completion in all subjects.

Setting kids up for success in these crucial subjects increases the odds a student will graduate high school four-fold. It even increases the chances of a successful college career. When students are given the right tools and support systems, learning does not need to be a difficulty they’re trying to overcome. It can be a path to a future with choices.

Meaningful relationships with caring adults improve confidence & foster a sense of belonging in school

In addition to the learning progress and educational successes we see in the primary focus areas for tutoring, we also see student wins that can be harder to measure. Improvements that result from the experience a student has with high-impact tutoring vs. the direct, measurable results in their classes can be just as powerful as improved scores or passing courses.

In today’s educational system, students and teachers are under intense pressure to perform, but lack the resources and logistical support to adequately prepare all students to score well on assessments and meet state standards and district goals.

Class sizes are large, instructional time is limited, and the amount of material teachers must cover often do not allow for individualized instruction, remediation, small group work, or getting off schedule when many students are struggling with the same material.

The individual and small group instruction students receive with effective high-impact tutoring helps them form relationships, ask for help, understand concepts and practive skills. This often increases confidence in asking questions, working with others, admitting confusion, building resilience with difficult materials, and fosters trust with a caring adult who is committed to their success.

They learn to better manage their time, create habits for success, and establish routines that help them continue developing the skills they need to be successful in school. They learn to meet challenges, try new approaches, and listen to other perspectives.

Whether discussing early literacy tutoring or high-impact tutoring in high school math, the connection with caring adults and the social-emotional benefits of small group instruction are an integral part of the success of in-school tutoring.

When kids feel connected, they are better able to focus and learn. Early literacy tutoring and in-school Algebra I tutoring give students the foundation and connections for a successful school experience, even limiting the tutoring time to specific focus areas.

Find out how to bring early literacy tutoring and high-impact tutoring to your district.

Get comprehensive high-impact tutoring support from Saga Education and the Success for All Foundation

The post Why Early Literacy And Algebra I Are The Best Bets For High-Impact Tutoring appeared first on Saga Education.

Select members of Saga Education’s staff had the honor and privilege of joining legislators and staffers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 21, to advocate for expanding access to tutoring. Hill Day is an annual event Saga leverages to spread awareness about high-impact tutoring and our work among legislators in both the House and the Senate. This year, Saga’s message came ahead of two new bills to expand access to tutoring.

Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act

The first bill, The Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act, championed by Representatives Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ 11th District) and Nancy Mace (R-SC 1st District), is a bipartisan initiative that aims to create a new grant program with the Department of Education to fund the creation and administration of high-dosage tutoring programs. The bill embodies evidence-based standards and will help the United States Department of Education and states to develop a nationwide tutoring workforce to help school districts interested in creating their own tutoring programs.

“By directing the Secretary of Education to award grants for tutoring programs, we are ensuring every child, regardless of their background or circumstances, has access to the additional support they need to thrive,” said Representative Nancy Mace.

The second tutoring bill, The Partnering Aspiring Teachers with High-Need Schools (PATHS) to Tutors Act, has been introduced to the Senate before and is to be reintroduced by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Susan Collins (R-ME), is a bipartisan bill that will expand access to one-on-one and small-group tutoring in underserved communities significantly affected by the pandemic. The legislation will also strengthen the pipeline of future teachers by placing teacher candidates into tutoring roles.

Taking on Capitol Hill

A dynamic team of twelve Saga staff teamed up with Fulcrum Public Affairs, an expert firm in federal relations, to highlight Saga’s impact and evidence of effectiveness, with legislative staff members from 26 offices across political parties.

“The purpose of connecting with policymakers at the state and federal level is to shift mindsets, policies, and resources to create conditions that will support high-impact tutoring long term,” Co-Founder and Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer A.J. Gutierrez said. 

Cathryn Cook, Senior Director of Data Systems and Analytics, was thrilled that she had the opportunity to speak directly with members.

“We were lucky to be able to connect directly with Congresswoman Schakowsky from Illinois, who attended Sullivan High School in Chicago, which is one of our direct service school partners…[she] was interested in hearing about our partnership with Sullivan High School and how we’ve worked to support its diverse, multilingual student population. She was proud to share that her name is now spread across the floor of Sullivan’s newly-renovated gymnasium, which was dedicated to her this past fall.”

Monivett Acevedo, Chief Financial Officer, passionately shared, “This moment presents an unprecedented opportunity to make a shift — to invest in evidence-based programs and to refuse a return to business as usual. We’re seizing this chance not just to advance but to truly transform the education landscape.”

Celebrating Success

Following the meetings at the Capitol, Saga held its annual Congressional Reception and Awards Ceremony at the International Spy Museum. During the reception, Representatives Sherill and Mace were joined by Senator Cornyn, and they shared remarks about the importance of Saga’s work in the high-impact tutoring space.

“This event was more than just an opportunity to influence policy,” AJ Gutierrez shared. “It’s a chance for Saga staff to be directly involved in catalyzing systemic change in the education sector.”

To offer your support for The Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act or the PATHS to tutors act, contact your local Representative or Senators.

The post Saga Education Leading the Charge on Capitol Hill appeared first on Saga Education.