Opportunities for Tutor Training and Coaching

Training & Coaching:

Crucial Components to High-Quality Intervention

We seek expertise when we need things fixed. And, we are often discerning about who provides us that expertise—we want those who are trained and experienced in the areas we need help. Those who have a malfunctioning MAC may make an appointment at the Genius Bar. Sump pump failures warrant a plumber. In the medical field, we seek specialists for a range of health concerns.

Education is no different. Trained experts are needed to close the achievement gap. Like the Apple Geniuses at the Bar, teachers and interventionists need to have the expertise and training to pinpoint and adequately address student needs. Proven tutoring models with exceptional professional development and ongoing coaching are helping students catch up all over the country . The professional development embedded in these models is crucial to the program's success because it is specific to the materials, procedures, and data tools being used in the tutoring sessions. It is what transforms a teacher or paraprofessional to an interventionist who is confident in how they should adapt the program to a particular student’s needs.

Fuchs Tutoring (mathematics ) and TRI (early literacy) are two road-tested professional development programs featured in this month's newsletter that prepare school staff to deliver very targeted, structured tutoring interventions proven to produce big gains in a relatively short amount of time. Schools that invest in these professional learning opportunities are expanding the versatility of their staff, creating a team of experts who can pinpoint a student's learning gaps and effectively utilize the components of a tutoring model to individualize support.

Professional Learning Institutes for Mathematics Interventions Happening This Spring

Fuchs Tutoring understands the importance of leveraging high-quality professional development to improve teacher implementation of tutoring instructional materials. Research shows high-quality professional learning reflects the following characteristics: (a) alignment to school goals, standards, and assessments; (b) focus on core content and modeling strategies for teaching the content; (c) opportunities for active learning of new teaching strategies; (d) opportunities for collaboration among teachers; and (e) follow-up and continuous feedback (Archibald, Coggshall, Croft, & Goe, 2011). When paired with a proven program, there is a greater likelihood of producing positive impacts on student learning (Slavin, 2021).

Fuchs Tutoring at AIR offers virtual professional learning institutes that reflect the five aforementioned characteristics of high-quality professional learning. All Fuchs Research Group mathematics tutoring programs are aligned to grade level learning standards and include embedded opportunities to collect assessment data on student progress. Their professional learning institutes focus on the essential components of each program, and how to implement them with fidelity. Sessions are structured with ample opportunities for teacher practice and collaboration, leveraging interactive features of the Zoom platform. Finally, institute participants receive access to a password protected online forum after the institute, where they can receive ongoing follow-up support and feedback by AIR’s expert coaches as they implement the programs. This also grants them access to a national professional learning community of Fuchs Research Group program adopters.

The 2023 Learning Institutes are happening this spring and will continue through the calendar year--scroll to the flyer below for more information. Any individual teacher, tutor, or staff member can register for our institutes. Small groups joining together are welcome. Register here .

Professional Development Success Story:

TRI and a Central North Carolina District

Targeted Reading Instruction (TRI) is an evidence-based professional development program that prepares teachers to work with students in a one-on-one setting daily for a period of 8-10 weeks to rapidly accelerate reading progress. TRI easily integrates with the district adopted curriculum, placing a strong focus on synthesizing sounds to decode text.

One school in central North Carolina has worked with Targeted Reading Instruction since the 2019-2020 school year. TRI has provided a concrete illustration of how to apply the science of reading in the classroom, complimenting the state required LETRS training.

That first year,TRI worked with kindergarten and first grade teachers until Covid hit and schools shut down. Once everyone returned to school, TRI returned as well to work with the first-grade team for the 2021-2022 school year. TRI provided materials and professional development (both in-person and virtual) as well as weekly one-on-one coaching for teachers as they worked with students. The virtual coaching model provides immediate support and feedback without the disruption of having additional adults in the classroom.

The partnership in North Carolina has continued for the 2022-2023 school year, involving work with new first grade teachers and previous TRI educators. With the experienced TRI educators, the TRI coach has facilitated mini-workshops around adapting the one-on-one model to small group instruction and routinely models the small group approach in-person. The ongoing support has resulted in a dedicated group of teachers that serve as a driving force behind TRI permeating all aspects of early reading instruction in the school. Interventionists reinforce TRI strategies and activities providing continuity of instruction across settings. Teachers support one another, sharing ideas and what’s working to meet the needs of all students.

During the 2021-2022 school year, TRI students outperformed control students on alphabetics, decoding, and comprehension measures.Similar gains are expected from this year’s students. With grant funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), TRI is currently working on developing a digital version of the program that will be accessible to a wide range of educators, with enhanced potential for tutoring applications.

More High-Dosage Programs

Explore proven, high-dosage models in reading and mathematics on our website, proventutoring.org, or connect with us directly at info@proventutoring.org.

ProvenTutoring | Info@proventutoring.org