Education is a human endeavor, and that includes tutoring!
Are you hoping to increase student attendance at tutoring sessions? 
New research from the British Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) suggests that a quick survey could help by encouraging students and tutors to build relationships based on shared interests and values.
Classroom educators already know that students benefit emotionally and academically when they have strong connections with their teachers, and, unsurprisingly, the same holds true for tutoring.
Four tutoring organizations participated in a trial where 16,000 students and 1,800 tutors completed a “Snap Survey” before tutoring sessions began. Participants answered short questions about their interests, hobbies, and beliefs and received feedback on their similarities, meant to spark conversation and connection. Tutors also received suggested discussion prompts and were encouraged to use teaching strategies that incorporated their students’ interests.
The trial found that administering the survey to students increased their tutoring attendance rates from 62% to 66%, a statistically significant result that showed particular promise for newer tutors.
A growing body of evidence indicates that high-dosage, high-quality tutoring works. But obviously, students must show up to reap the benefits. While it’s wonderful that tutoring programs are reaching more schools and districts, improving how we engage all students in these services is the only way to ensure that students reach their full learning potential.
For educators in the U.S. who might want to implement a survey in their school or district’s tutoring programs, we’ve adjusted EEF’s survey to be culturally relevant for your students. You can use this Google Form as a model for your own tutoring survey.
If you’re looking to accelerate learning through exceptional math and reading tutoring, let’s chat! The certified instructors who make up our Virtual Tutor Instructor Team are genius at connecting with students and discovering exactly what makes them tick. High-Dosage Tutoring for grades 3-12 students can help every student get the academic and emotional support they need to soar.
Carnegie Learning is shaping the future of education. Born from more than 30 years of learning science research at Carnegie Mellon University, the company has become a recognized leader in the ed tech space, using artificial intelligence, formative assessment, and adaptive learning to deliver groundbreaking solutions to education’s toughest challenges. With the highest quality offerings for K-12 math, ELA, literacy, world languages, professional learning and more, Carnegie Learning is changing the way we think about education, and creating powerful results for teachers and students alike.
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