Why Tutoring Matters

SUMMER TUTORING HELPS PREVENT LEARNING LOSS

“Summer slide” is a learning loss problem that affects thousands of students nationwide every year and is especially harmful to students in high-poverty communities. According to the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), summer learning loss has a cumulative effect that can leave some students as far as two to three years behind their peers by the fifth grade.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have experienced unprecedented disruptions in their learning. Research from The Collaborative for Student Growth at the nonprofit NWEA suggested the pandemic could result in students returning to school in the fall of 2020 retaining only 70 percent of typical learning gains in reading and less than 50 percent of usual learning gains in math. In some grades, students could be nearly a full year behind.

Fortunately, summer tutoring programs have been proven to help prevent dramatic summer learning losses. NSLA research and case studies confirm high-quality summer learning programs can improve math and reading skills while also helping children continue to develop critical social and emotional skills. The Tennessee Tutoring Corps aims to help prevent long-term learning loss among the state’s most vulnerable young students while also connecting college students with summer employment opportunities and meaningful work experience.