Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is scaling back tutoring programs that have shown promise in boosting student achievement.
Leveraging federal relief funds, IPS expanded tutoring options, including virtual and in-person support, to address pandemic-related learning loss. Data from Tutored by Teachers revealed that students who participated in tutoring, particularly those attending after-school sessions and qualifying for subsidized meals, made significant progress on standardized tests. However, with federal funding drying up, the district is forced to reduce these effective programs.
In the last two school years, the district worked with Tutored by Teachers to provide both in-school and after-school virtual tutoring. The program reached a peak of 9,500 students served during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Tutored by Teachers presentation. Around 4,400 of them received tutoring during the school day at 24 schools, and 2,700 received tutoring after school.
Schools also used the program to fill vacant teaching roles, and this approach reached another 2,300 students.
In-school tutoring was linked to a 9-point gain in NWEA growth percentiles in English, and a 10-point gain in math. The after-school tutoring program was linked to various levels of growth depending on how many hours students attended.
Around half of all students completed at least 10 hours of tutoring in a semester. One hundred and seventy-five students attended 20 or more hours of after-school tutoring, which was linked to the most significant academic gains.