School leaders and teachers can now get practical,
evidence-informed guidance on how to implement effective tutoring
for pupils, via a new online ‘how to guide’.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put huge pressure on schools, teachers
and pupils. Tutoring is one of the tools available to help
schools offer additional support to learners – particularly those
from disadvantaged backgrounds.
NFER Classroom is keen to support and invest in the growing
evidence around tutoring and has produced this practical guide to
support schools.
The tool, available on the NFER website, is based on
evidence from evaluations of the first and second years of the National
Tutoring Programme (NTP), conducted by NFER and its partners.
From this research, we have drawn out seven key themes (below) to
help teachers implement effective tutoring for children,
including those in challenging socio-economic circumstances.
- What do I need to consider when planning tutoring in my
school?
- What do I need to consider when selecting pupils and tutors
in my school?
- What group size is best for our target pupils?
- Should we choose face-to-face or online tuition?
- How do I best schedule the sessions – when and for how long?
- How can we promote good information sharing and communication
with tutors?
- How will I ensure that the tutoring meets my pupils’ needs?
Commenting on the new resource, Dr Ben Styles, NFER Head of
Classroom Practice and Workforce said:
“Schools want to engage with the evidence but are incredibly
tight for time. We want to make our research easier to read for
teachers and leaders by creating outputs which draw out the key
implications, specific to them.
“As we conducted the evaluation of years 1 and 2 of the NTP, our
researchers have been able to pull out the key evidence-based
insights to help schools plan tutoring effectively.”
NFER has also created a poster with key tips from this guide
which teachers can download from our websiteand
print out for their staff room.
