High-Impact Tutoring coaches are seeing student academic success as a result of small group tutoring sessions.
This month, Lana Learn High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) coaches continued to support students in both math and English language arts (ELA) at Theodore Roosevelt High School. According to CityTour DC, high-impact tutoring can lead to larger learning gains in math and reading than other school-based interventions when it meets standards. One of those standards is holding small group tutoring sessions of no more than four students per group. HIT coaches are seeing improved academic grades that they can attribute to this small group instruction.
Student attendance is often a challenge; however, this group of students has been participating in regular tutoring sessions twice a week, for 45 minutes each. As of December 15, one of three math students improved by going from a D to a C. In ELA, 10 out of 15 students are consistently increasing their classwork scores. Additionally, 4 ELA students improved by an entire letter grade.
Benefits of Small Group Instruction
The focus for this month with ELA students was reading comprehension and analysis as well as writing techniques. Our academic coaches supported students by utilizing small group tutoring sessions. Both English speaking students and English language learners (ELLs) benefit from tutoring sessions to learn these skills. Through culture projects and short story readings on the Harlem Renaissance, students were able to learn about both history and important ELA topics.
Lana Learn offers small group tutoring sessions to comply with High-Impact Tutoring standards. Small group tutoring sessions focused on building reading comprehension and analysis skills offer several benefits for students. Here are some advantages of this instructional approach:
- Personalized Attention: In small group settings, tutors provide more personalized attention to each student. This allows for a better understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses, enabling targeted support to address specific needs.
- Increased Engagement: Small groups often facilitate greater student engagement. Students may feel more comfortable participating in discussions and asking questions in a smaller, less intimidating environment. This increased engagement can positively impact their comprehension and analytical skills.
- Collaborative Learning: Group settings encourage collaborative learning. Students can benefit from discussing readings, sharing insights, and learning from their peers. This interaction fosters a sense of community and helps students develop social and cognitive skills.
- Diverse Perspectives: Small groups often consist of students with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This diversity can enrich discussions and expose students to different ways of thinking, enhancing their critical thinking and analytical abilities.
- Targeted Instruction: Tutors can tailor instruction to the specific needs of the group. If certain students struggle with a particular aspect of reading comprehension or analysis, the tutor can address these challenges directly, providing targeted instruction and practice.
- Regular Feedback: Tutors can provide more frequent and immediate feedback in a small group setting. This timely feedback helps students understand their progress, identify areas for improvement, and make necessary adjustments to enhance their reading comprehension and analysis skills.
Overall, small group tutoring sessions create a supportive learning environment where students can develop essential reading comprehension and analysis skills while benefiting from personalized attention and peer interaction. This month students worked on multiple small assignments to practice these skills. However, the overall “favorite” was learning about the Harlem Renaissance.
Moving forward, we will be closing out the first semester’s sessions later in January. We are excited to work with a new cohort of students in the spring! We will be working with both math and ELA students, focusing on both academic achievement and social growth.
