Virtual High-Impact Tutoring

In Ector County, Texas, the school district is closing students’ learning gaps from the pandemic in an innovative fashion

When the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 first disrupted schools, the Ector County Independent School District in Texas, like many others, turned to virtual instruction by providing internet access to students in rural areas through SpaceX and wireless hotspot devices. For the 2020-21 school year, we relied on a combination of face-to-face teaching and a virtual option.

Many students learning virtually struggled. Recognizing the learning losses, we prioritized finding a solution to help them regain lost academic ground.

Our district researched the best options to address learning gaps without putting additional stress on our teachers. Several studies, including one run by NWEA titled “Education’s Long COVID,” found lower-achieving students fell the furthest behind, and even when they did make progress, it was less than the growth that occurred during pre-pandemic years. Formal tutoring of those most in need looked most promising.

Superintendent Scott Muri took the pioneering step of venturing into outcomes-based contracting for the use of virtual high-impact tutoring in the school district. He encouraged collaboration with prominent entities such as the Southern Education Foundation and Harvard University because of their research in outcomes-based contracting. Their research on effective tutoring showed it needed to be offered to students at least 30-45 minutes three times a week and ought to be scheduled within the instructional day.

Ector County followed the researchers’ guidance when we set out to implement virtual tutoring across the district.