By Kaya Feng, Johns Hopkins University

The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted student learning to various extents in the past two years. Many studies demonstrate that tutoring programs where students receive small-group or one-to-one academic support are effective in improving academic achievement. However, there are few reviews that summarize the evidence on these programs’ implementation. A group of researchers at Brown University conducted a systematic review of 40 studies to synthesize how tutoring is implemented and experienced.

This review provides three findings: 1) There are five conceptualizations of tutoring in the reviewed studies, which are not mutually exclusive: a. Tutoring is aimed at facilitating the development of academic skills and cultivation of positive attitudes toward learning; b. Tutoring is innovative in that it redistributes power and instructional roles; c. Tutoring scaffolds pre-service teachers getting prepared for classroom instruction; d. Tutoring serves as a marketplace where tutors compete to provide accessible tutoring resources…