What does research say about elements of effective tutoring programs aimed at helping children catch up after a prolonged absence?

Thank you for the question you submitted to our REL Reference Desk regarding research about elements of effective tutoring programs aimed at helping children catch up after a prolonged absence. We have prepared the following memo with research references to help answer your question. For each reference, we provide an abstract, excerpt, or summary written by the study's author or publisher. The references are selected from the most commonly used research resources and may not be comprehensive. References are listed in alphabetical order, not necessarily in order of relevance. Other relevant studies may exist. We have not evaluated the quality of these references, but provide them for your information only.

Research References

1. Bell, S. M., Park, Y., Martin, M., Smith, J., McCallum, R. S., Smyth, K., & Mingo, M. (2020). Preventing summer reading loss for students in poverty: A comparison of tutoring and access to books. Education Studies, 46(4), 440-457. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1260407
   Request full text available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332447036
   From the abstract: “The purpose of this study was to determine if reading achievement of students from high-poverty US schools differs as a function of participation in summer tutoring versus access to books. Data from 100 at-risk youth who participated in tutoring (n = 45) or received self-selected books (n = 55) indicated significant gains for students in both groups in contextual reading fluency, gains only for the books group in word reading fluency, and no gains for either group in reading comprehension. Results add modestly to the growing evidence that access to books is a cost-efficient means to address summer reading loss.”
2. Biggart, A., O'Hare, L., & Miller, S. (2015). Tutoring with Alphie: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. Education Endowment Foundation. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED581542
   From the abstract: “Tutoring with Alphie is a computer-assisted programme that aims to improve the literacy skills of struggling readers. The programme combines elements of collaborative (or 'cooperative') learning, computer-assisted instruction and small group support. Participating pupils are grouped in pairs and follow a series of activities that seek to improve reading comprehension and fluency of expression. Pupils are supervised by a tutor, most commonly a teaching assistant. The programme was designed by the charity Success for All and was adapted from a programme which was available in the United States for younger struggling readers (6-7 years). This project sought to assess the impact of the programme on Year 6 pupils who were at risk of not achieving Level 4a and above in reading at the end of Key Stage 2. 72 pupils from six schools across England completed the trial. Pupils followed the programme on a daily basis for 30 minutes each day over a period of six weeks. Typically four to eight pupils, split into pairs with similar levels of prior attainment, would participate at the same time. The study was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation as one of 24 projects in a themed round on literacy catch-up at the primary-secondary transition. Key conclusions include: (1) The evaluation was unable to provide a secure estimate of the programme's impact on literacy, primarily due to the large number of schools that dropped out of the trial; (2) It would have been beneficial to undertake further programme development, including software testing, prior to trialling the programme in English schools; (3) A number of schools perceived the programme as having some promise and worked with the developers and Success for All to overcome initial difficulties with the software; (4) The programme had been adapted as a catch-up literacy programme for Year 6, but the process evaluation suggested that it may be better targeted at a younger age group; and (5) To assess the efficacy of approaches that combine collaborative learning with computer-assisted technology to improve reading comprehension, further evaluation would be required.”
3. Burch, P., Good, A., & Heinrich, C. (2016). Improving access to, quality, and the effectiveness of digital tutoring in K-12 education. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(1), 65-87. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1089895
   From the abstract: “There is considerable variation in how providers of digital education describe what they do, their services, how students access services, and what is delivered, complicating efforts to accurately assess its impact. We examine program characteristics of digital tutoring providers using rich, longitudinal observational and interview data and then analyze student attendance patterns and effects of digital tutoring on low-income students' reading and mathematics achievement. We find significant associations between formats, curriculum drivers, tutor locations, and other characteristics of digital providers and their effectiveness in increasing student achievement, as well as differential access by student characteristics, that warrant further investigation as digital providers' roles in K-12 instruction continue to expand.”
4. Campbell, A. (2019). Design-based research principles for successful peer tutoring on social media. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 50(7), 1024-1036. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1228601
   Request full text available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335221090
   From the abstract: “Social media platforms such as WhatsApp are increasingly used in formal education settings. However, there is little research to guide educators on how to set up effective peer tutoring groups on social media platforms, particularly between tutors and tutees who rarely meet face-to-face. In the context of a WhatsApp mathematics tutoring project, we present evidence-based principles to guide the establishment and operation of peer tutoring groups on a social media platform. The development of the principles followed a design-based research framework, based on theories about peer learning, participation barriers to social media use in a low socio-economic setting, and input from participants, who were high school students and university students in Cape Town, South Africa. The refined principles provide guidance for others in similar settings who aim to use tutoring groups on a social media platform to achieve education goals.”
5. Chappell, S., Arnold, P., Nunnery, J., & Grant, M. (2015). An examination of an online tutoring program's impact on low-achieving middle school students' mathematics achievement. Online Learning, 19(5), 37-53. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1085790
   From the abstract: “The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact of synchronous online tutoring services on struggling middle school students' mathematics achievement. The online tutoring was provided as a response to intervention (RTI) Tier 3 support (intensive, individualized intervention) in schools implementing a school-wide mathematics program that addresses Tier 1 (high-quality classroom instruction) and Tier 2 (small group interventions). We employed quasi-experimental, within- and between-group designs to examine impacts for 119 students in two schools to measure the tutoring's impact on mathematics assessment scores. We also conducted qualitative analyses of student and tutor postsession commentary. The findings suggest that the tutoring contributed to statistically significant gains in student assessment scores postintervention. Online tutors' descriptions of their practice centered on ongoing progress monitoring of student learning, delivery of guided practice to students, the use of multiple explanations and representations of target concepts. Student perceptions of the online tutoring were predominately positive in nature.”
6. Clark, A. K. & Whetstone, P. (2014). The impact of an online tutoring program on mathematics achievement. Journal of Educational Research, 107(6), 462-466. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1043617
   Request full text available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271568507
   From the abstract: “The authors explored the impact of an online tutoring program, Math Whizz (Whizz Education, 2014), on student mathematics achievement at 15 elementary schools. Students participated in the use of the Math Whizz program for the duration of the school year as a supplement to mathematics instruction. The Math Whizz program recorded such information as initial mathematics age, growth in mathematics age, amount of usage, average quiz score, and average test score. Teachers were also surveyed regarding the implementation of the online tutoring platform. In addition, 1 school provided assessment scores from the summative statewide mathematics assessment, which was used as the outcome variable of a multiple regression with variables from the online tutoring program as independent variables. Findings indicated that Math Whizz usage was related to improvement in mathematics achievement as measured by the online tutoring program, teacher survey responses, and the state assessment data.”
7. Fuchs, L. S., Geary, D. C., Compton, D. L., Fuchs, D., Schatschneider, C., Hamlett, C. L., ... & Changas, P. (2013). Effects of first-grade number knowledge tutoring with contrasting forms of practice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(1), 58-77. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1006608
   Request full text available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3779611/
   From the abstract: “The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 1st-grade number knowledge tutoring with contrasting forms of practice. Tutoring occurred 3 times per week for 16 weeks. In each 30-min session, the major emphasis (25 min) was number knowledge; the other 5 min provided practice in 1 of 2 forms. Nonspeeded practice reinforced relations and principles addressed in number knowledge tutoring. Speeded practice promoted quick responding and use of efficient counting procedures to generate many correct responses. At-risk students were randomly assigned to number knowledge tutoring with speeded practice (n = 195), number knowledge tutoring with nonspeeded practice (n = 190), and control (no tutoring, n = 206). Each tutoring condition produced stronger learning than control on all 4 mathematics outcomes. Speeded practice produced stronger learning than nonspeeded practice on arithmetic and 2-digit calculations, but effects were comparable on number knowledge and word problems. Effects of both practice conditions on arithmetic were partially mediated by increased reliance on retrieval, but only speeded practice helped at-risk children compensate for weak reasoning ability.”
8. Mastorodimos, D. & Chatzichristofis, S. A. (2019). Studying affective tutoring systems for mathematical concepts. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 48(1), 14-50. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1224515
   Request full text available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0047239519859857
   From the abstract: “Students face difficulties in learning mathematical processes. As a result, they have negative emotions toward mathematics. The use of technology is employed to change the student's attitude toward mathematics. Some methods utilize intelligent tutoring systems to recognize student's emotional state and adapt the learning process accordingly. These systems, known as affective tutoring systems (ATSs), sense the emotional state of a student and then intelligently attempt to suggest appropriate strategies that can guide the learning process and ultimately shift the negative attitude of students toward mathematical learning. This article presents a survey of ATSs, which teach mathematic content, and tries to find common elements among them. It examines the kind and the number of student's emotions that can be recognized and the strategies and methods that these ATSs use to recognize student's emotional state. There are findings that agree with other studies about the recognized emotions and the methods that are used.”
9. Steenbergen-Hu, S. & Cooper, H. (2013). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems on K-12 students' mathematical learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 970-987. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1054449
   Request full text available at: https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/9536/ITS%20k- 12%20Published.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1
   From the abstract: “In this study, we meta-analyzed empirical research of the effectiveness of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) on K-12 students' mathematical learning. A total of 26 reports containing 34 independent samples met study inclusion criteria. The reports appeared between 1997 and 2010. The majority of included studies compared the effectiveness of ITS with that of regular classroom instruction. A few studies compared ITS with human tutoring or homework practices. Among the major findings are (a) overall, ITS had no negative and perhaps a small positive effect on K-12 students' mathematical learning, as indicated by the average effect sizes ranging from g = 0.01 to g = 0.09, and (b) on the basis of the few studies that compared ITS with homework or human tutoring, the effectiveness of ITS appeared to be small to modest. Moderator analyses revealed 2 findings of practical importance. First, the effects of ITS appeared to be greater when the interventions lasted for less than a school year than when they lasted for 1 school year or longer. Second, the effectiveness of ITS for helping students drawn from the general population was greater than for helping low achievers. This finding draws attentions to the issue of whether computerized learning might contribute to the achievement gap between students with different achievement levels and aptitudes.”
10. What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. (2020, April). Web-based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy (ITSS). Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED604232
    From the abstract: “Literacy skills are critical to students' academic achievement and setting them on a path to successful high school graduation and readiness for college and careers. "Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy" ("ITSS") is a supplemental web-based program for students in grades K-8. It is designed to develop literacy skills needed to understand factual texts encountered in classrooms and everyday life. The program teaches students how to follow the logical structure of factual text and to use text structure to improve understanding and recall. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Adolescent Literacy topic area, explores the effects of "ITSS" on comprehension. The WWC identified two studies of "ITSS" that meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impacts of "ITSS" on students in grades 4, 5, and 7 and a variety of school settings, including suburban and rural districts.”

Additional Organizations to Consult

• Peer Tutoring Resource Center: https://www.peertutoringresource.org/
  From the website: “The Peer Tutoring Resource Center facilitates the use of peer tutoring as a strategy for improving academic and social-emotional outcomes for all students, including historically underserved populations, such as children of color, children from low-income families, English Language Learners, and students with learning challenges or disabilities. The Center supports teachers, after school practitioners, and other instructional leaders to systematically incorporate peer tutoring into classrooms and schools by providing a comprehensive online library of curricula, lesson plans, and tools; research on promising practices and documented outcomes; and a forum for sharing lessons, challenges, and successes.”
• Tutoring America: https://www.tutoringamerica.org/
  From the website: “Tutoring America is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing low-income students with supplemental tutoring services so that they can catch up to grade level in both math and English language arts. Our grants go directly to existing schools and other community organizations, and include funding for qualified tutors, tutoring software and computers.”
• Reading & Math, Inc.: https://www.servetogrow.org/
  From the website: “Reading & Math, Inc. is a national nonprofit that develops and scales evidence-based national service programs to help solve complex social issues and meet urgent community needs. We're powered by people and guided by data as we demonstrate the power of national service to impact change in our communities.”

Methods:

Search Strings. Effective tutoring student catch up OR Effective tutoring student prolonged absence OR tutoring prolonged absence OR tutoring after absence OR tutoring student absence OR prolonged absence tutoring OR student extended absence tutoring OR tutoring student long absence OR effective tutoring OR education interruption tutoring impact OR tutoring program impact absence OR effective tutoring for learning loss OR tutoring student learning loss OR gaps in education tutoring OR effective tutoring for gaps in learning OR effective tutoring elements prolonged absence OR effective tutoring components student catch up

Searched Databases and Resources.

• ERIC
• Academic Databases (e.g., EBSCO databases, JSTOR database, ProQuest, Google Scholar)
• Commercial search engines (e.g., Google)
• Institute of Education Sciences Resources

Reference Search and Selection Criteria. The following factors are considered when selecting references:

• Date of Publication: Priority is given to references published in the past 10 years.
• Search Priorities of Reference Sources: ERIC, other academic databases, Institute of Education Sciences Resources, and other resources including general internet searches.
• Methodology: Priority is given to the most rigorous study types, such as randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, as well as to correlational designs, descriptive analyses, mixed methods and literature reviews. Other considerations include the target population and sample, including their relevance to the question, generalizability, and general quality.