How do DC schools get kids to class? Offering tutoring – a lot.

Education disruptions during the pandemic have sparked a scramble to help students in the United States. Many school districts quickly cracked down on the tutor — something usually only wealthy families could afford.

When Washington, DC, schools launched intensive tutoring programs, student outcomes improved. And more children started showing up every day too. Now, as for some educators, results like those that reinforce the case for the tutor as an integral part of the public school. A key challenge is finding funding.

For Principal Akela Dogbe of Moten Elementary School, two things made the difference: the tutors provided a steady presence in the children’s lives, and they provided appropriate instruction. If data from the school’s i-Ready assessment software shows a student struggling with division, that’s what tutoring will address.

At Moten Elementary, 52% of students were proficient in English at the end of last school year, up from 13% in 2021-2022. In mathematics, the achievement level increased from 39% of students to 62%.

“This sense of belonging has absolutely made our students feel loved, challenged and prepared,” says the principal. “They had the adult they needed to connect with outside of just their teacher.”

When several schools in Washington, DC, launched intensive tutoring programs after the closure of COVID-19, the staff observed a pleasant surprise: more children began to appear every day.

Higher attendance rates — in addition to improved math and reading skills — proved a welcome side effect of an initiative aimed at bridging student learning gaps.

Disruptions to education during the pandemic have sparked a scramble to help students in the United States who were falling behind academically. Many school districts are quickly getting into tutoring — from online to in-person. It has put a strategy once considered a privilege for the wealthy few into the mainstream. Now, according to some educators and researchers, results like those of Washington strengthen the case for the tutor as an integral part of the public school.

“This is more likely to happen if parents want this and believe they can achieve this – and deserve to achieve this – at school,” says Susanna Loeb, professor of education at Stanford University in California.

Amid the flurry of activity in recent years, researchers and policy advocates are increasingly pointing to a specific type of tutoring as the most effective. Known as “high impact” or “high dosage,” it generally refers to tutoring that happens at least three times a week for 30-minute sessions with groups of four or fewer students. What if it is during the regular school day? Even better.

“Done well, in-school education increases academic achievement and builds student-adult relationships that help lessen the sense of isolation that has plagued many students in the wake of the pandemic,” wrote Liz Cohen, director of policy for FutureEd. an educational think tank. at Georgetown University, in a report released earlier this year. “It has the potential to become a valuable and lasting component of how schools teach students.”