How Tutoring Works
Six Steps to Grow Motivation and Accelerate Student Learning
- Nancy Frey - San Diego State University, USA
- Douglas Fisher - San Diego State University, USA
- John Almarode - James Madison University, USA
Build students’ confidence and competence with tutoring strategies that spark meaningful, accelerated learning.
Tutoring is much more than telling students information. Effective tutoring begins with the strong and caring relationship a tutor establishes with a learner to build trust, fuel motivation, and drive critical learning.
How Tutoring Works distills the complexity of strategic moves effective tutors make to build students’ confidence and competence. Harnessing decades of Visible Learning® research, this easy to read, eye-opening guide details the six essential components of any effective tutoring intervention—establishing a relationship and credibility, addressing student confidence and challenges, setting shared goals, helping a student learn how to learn, teaching and learning content, and establishing a habit of deliberate practice. Indispensable for any educator who intervenes with students, this rich resource includes:
- Examples of impactful tutoring conversations, including what to say and what not to say when building a relationship with a learner.
- Specific approaches to use when establishing credibility, addressing challenges to learning, leveraging the relevance of knowledge, setting goals, and ensuring practice.
- Learning strategies, with effect size, for teaching and learning content, including specific strategies for improving reading, writing, and mathematics.
- Tips and tools for helping students develop powerful cognitive, metacognitive, and affective study skills.
- Resources and advice for establishing an effective and transformational tutoring program.
Done well, tutoring can repair a student’s damaged relationship to learning, address unrealized potential, and alter the course of a young person’s life. A strong and nurturing relationship between tutor and learner is key.
Free resources
How Tutoring Works webinar
Authors of How Tutoring Works Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Almarode show how effective tutoring begins with the strong and caring relationship a tutor establishes with a learner to build trust, fuel motivation, and drive critical learning.
Acceleration and Remediation: A Comparison
In this chart from How Tutoring Works, the authors compare the components of acceleration and remediation, including relevance and their connections to core classes.
Deliberate Practice in Action
In this excerpt from How Tutoring Works, see the steps of deliberate practice in action.
Questions to Ask About the Tutoring Program
As you move into a tutoring role, consider this table from How Tutoring Works, which lists possible questions to ask first, including questions around the program goals, curriculum and materials, and assessment.
How Tutoring Works Introduction
In this introductory excerpt from How Tutoring Works, the authors present their new model of tutoring built around building student confidence and competence.
Tutoring Planning Template
Use this template from How Tutoring Works to track the progress of students in tutoring programs, align instruction to standards, and utilize evidence-based practices from the learning sciences.
Comparing Deliberate Practice and Tutoring
In this chart from How Tutoring Works, the authors compare the components of deliberate practice and tutoring and provide clear action steps for developing expertise in tutoring.