High-impact tutoring is a proven solution for learning loss, accelerating learning, and increasing student achievement. However, another benefit is its capacity to support and strengthen the teacher pipeline by giving non-educators a practical, supportive, and meaningful introduction to becoming an educator.
Among the many challenges school districts face is hiring great teachers. Many educators are burnt out and leaving the field, wreaking havoc on retention. At the same time, schools are under tremendous pressure to perform, close opportunity gaps, and improve student outcomes. These factors are only possible to address with adequate staffing and well-trained teachers.
How High-Impact Tutoring Benefits Tutors & Schools
Tutoring opens doors to education for those who may have yet to have an opportunity to work with students or even consider a career as an educator. Tutors who complete a fellowship with Saga Education get firsthand experience working with students, teachers, parents, and districts while they learn valuable skills to help accelerate learning and differentiate lessons.
High-Impact Tutoring Naturally Builds Tutor to Teacher Pipelines
At Saga, many fellows become inspired by their work and have a newfound passion for helping students achieve academic success, opening future opportunities. Saga fellows are well prepared to pursue a career path in education after completing a service year as a high-impact tutor. Tutors get to experience working with students to improve learning and form meaningful relationships with their tutoring groups and follow them throughout the school year. They get to know the kids personally, advocate for their learning, and provide critical social-emotional skills in a way many kids may not have experienced.
Forming meaningful connections with students and becoming relentless champions for their success bolsters the tutors as much as it does the students in their groups. After all, seeing the impact one person can have in kids’ lives and the power to enact positive changes for their futures makes work fulfilling and gives meaning to your day.
Many teachers get into education to make a meaningful impact on students. When tutors experience this firsthand, it makes considering a teaching career a logical next step. Sourcing tutors from universities can be a viable tutor to teacher pipeline into education for current college students and give them real-world experience in education.
High-Impact Tutoring Provides Valuable Experience in Education
High-impact tutoring also builds practical skills that can be difficult to learn from books or classes. The experience helps fellows learn to guide students through lessons and differentiate them based on students’ needs. These are practical skills that many educators do not get to practice until they start student teaching rotations. But, they are valuable for providing context for the academic work they may do if they choose to pursue a career in education. In the same way that some student teachers realize during their rotations that teaching may not be the right path for them, many tutors realize that it is the right career choice after having experienced the power of high-impact tutoring firsthand.
In addition to helping identify education as a potential career, it can also help a tutor expand their professional network. When done right, high-impact tutors collaborate with the teachers and school staff. They work closely with schools to ensure students meet their goals and understand the materials. Teachers can provide feedback and helpful tips, which can be invaluable for those working with students for the first time.
Professional communication can be a new challenge for any young adult just entering the workforce, and a tutor to teacher experience, or even tutoring alone, can enhance their understanding of effective communication and the power of working as a team to support student success.
High-Impact Tutoring Opens Additional Resources for School Districts
For school districts, using a live-online, high-impact tutoring format opens up the pool of talent they can draw from, creating a national pipeline into education rather than relying on local schools and resources. Expanding their resource pool means more potential for staffing and addressing school needs, even when local resources may be unavailable or exhausted.
Measures to secure resources and tools to close opportunity gaps for students include expanding the teacher pipeline and finding creative ways to engage college students in the educational process.
While the benefits of high-impact tutoring for students are proven, the benefits for the education sector are also valuable. Increasing the potential talent pool for schools with a tutor to teacher pipeline, districts across the country can help meet the need that our schools face in addressing learning gaps, ensuring students are college-ready, and have opportunities for brighter futures.
Learn more about the benefits of live-online tutoring and how experience as a tutor can inspire a career in education.
Interested in becoming a Saga Fellow? Serve with Saga and make a difference in the lives of youth while building valuable leadership skills.
