About CTDC

About Us

CityTutor DC catalyzes tutoring for thousands of students in DC, improving student well-being, accelerating academic performance, and enhancing talent systems in schools.

Who We Are

About CityTutor DC

CityTutor DC’s work provides the necessary infrastructure to enable the city’s collaborative, multi-sector efforts to scale and improve high-impact tutoring (HIT).

Founded in early 2021, CityTutor DC supports 90+ schools, tutoring providers, local universities, community-based organizations, and government stakeholders to expand the scope and impact of quality tutoring available to DC’s students and families. CityTutor DC recruits, trains, and coaches partners citywide to launch and expand HIT programs serving DC’s most vulnerable students. CityTutor DC’s work is driven by national standards and aligned to the growing body of research supporting HIT as a proven and effective academic intervention. To date, our coalition of stakeholders has served nearly 15,000 students in DC public and public charter schools with high-impact tutoring.

CityTutor DC is an initiative of CityBridge Education, a nonprofit that incubates the people, ideas, and conversations needed for equity-driven innovation in schools.

Our Approach

What is High-Impact Tutoring?

A research-based practice of supplementing classroom instruction in a one-on-one or small group setting where a trained, quality tutor and student meet frequently and consistently, with a focus on math and/or literacy.
Tutoring is considered one of the most effective evidence-based interventions for students. Research shows that high-impact tutoring can lead to larger learning gains in math and reading than other school-based interventions when it meets standards.
Learn more about the citywide high-impact tutoring strategy here.

Seven High-Impact Tutoring Standards

Grounded in Trusting Relationships

The care that tutors show fuels the motivation necessary for students to move forward academically. When a tutor takes the time to get to know who the student is and how the student learns best, attendance and engagement follow.

Focused on Tutor Effectiveness

The quality of tutors is key to helping students make academic progress, so they must be selected, trained and managed carefully. Tutors need to have a solid knowledge of the subject matter they are teaching, which should be built at minimum by a thorough training on the curriculum to be used, as well as close supervision and ongoing feedback to become more effective.

Supported by High Quality Curriculum

The curriculum that tutors use with students should be aligned with school lessons and grounded in high-quality research. Scripted lessons specifically designed for tutors are best to use with students, acknowledging that not all tutors have as much pedagogical content knowledge as teachers.

Occurring Frequently

At a minimum, students should receive 90 minutes of tutoring per week, in multiple sessions per week, for 10 weeks to be most effective. Research has shown that the more frequently and consistently tutoring occurs (dosage), the greater effect on student learning, provided that the tutoring meets other standards for quality.

Organized into Small Groups

Tutoring sessions should ideally have one to four students, as it allows a tutor to personalize instruction for each student. As group size increases, however, tutors have less time to customize instruction and must spend more time on student engagement.

Data Driven

Students receiving tutoring should be regularly assessed using high-quality, curriculum-aligned assessments. The data gathered from those assessments should be used to adapt what tutors work on with students. That assessment data, along with other key data (e.g. attendance, test scores, student satisfaction surveys), should be used for continuous improvement.

Collaborative with Schools

Ideally, tutoring should be embedded into the school day schedule but tutoring can also take place in other out-of-school time settings as long as efforts are made to connect what tutors are doing with what students are learning in school. Prioritizing deep connections between school and tutoring enables tutors, teachers and administrators to work together to help students succeed.

Since launching in spring 2021, CityTutor DC has catalyzed tutoring for over 10,000 students across the District by:

Building Capacity for Effective Tutoring in Schools
Strengthening DC’s Tutoring Force
Establishing Tutoring Networks
Supporting Tutoring and Learning Outside of Schools

Learn more about our strategy

CityTutor DC is also focused on incorporating caregiver engagement to foster uptake, consistency and satisfaction; learning how to best support tutoring hubs and schools through curriculum; and expanding observation and feedback loops to improve the practice of tutoring.

The CityTutor DC Coalition

Learn about the 90+ schools, tutoring providers, colleges/universities, and community-based organizations working together to expand the scope and impact of quality tutoring opportunities for DC’s students.

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Our Impact

In Summer 2021, 300 students received tutoring as schools supported by CityTutor DC piloted HIT

In Fall 2021, students returned to the classroom and 3,700 more students received HIT at our first cohort of schools

In Spring 2022, new partnerships were formed on an ongoing basis as we scaled HIT to serve more students with an additional 1,600 students receiving tutoring

In Summer 2022, an additional 600 students received HIT through our support

In Fall 2022, new and continued partnerships allowed us to expand access to 4,200 more students to reach our overall our goal

300

4,000

5,600

6,200

10,400

students

In the 2023-2024 school year and beyond, CityTutor DC will focus on the quality and quantity of high-impact tutoring that DC students receive

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Establishing Roots

After a year of connecting, designing, supporting, and brokering, we have demonstrated how to build a tutoring ecosystem that serves students furthest from opportunity and that will last beyond the context of pandemic recovery.