Deans for Impact
June 2021
How educator-preparation programs and K-12 schools can work together to leverage aspiring teachers as tutors
As educational leaders respond to unfinished learning from COVID-19, many have gravitated to tutoring as an effective intervention for K-12 students. And for good reason — high-quality tutoring is among the most effective education interventions ever to be subjected to rigorous evaluation (Dietrichson et al., 2017; Fryer, 2017; Nickow et al., 2020).
But as state and district leaders rush to establish and expand tutoring programs, they risk missing a fundamental opportunity to strengthen and diversify pathways into teaching while simultaneously supporting students, especially the most vulnerable.
At Deans for Impact, we believe that educational leaders should prioritize future teachers as high-quality tutors and embed tutoring as a foundational component of teacher preparation. We first made this recommendation in a July 2020 policy brief. Over the course of an immensely challenging school year, we have seen existing partnerships between educator-preparation programs and K-12 districts deepen, and new ones emerge. And we have heard from educational leaders who want to form new tutoring partnerships, but are unsure where to start.