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About CityTutor DC

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What is CityTutor DC?

CityTutor DC serves as the coordinated coalition to expand access to high-impact tutoring (HIT) to students in Washington, DC.

Founded in early 2021, our coalition of 50+ members connects schools, community-based organizations, and other committed stakeholders to accelerate learning for DC students through HIT.

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

Our Approach

CityTutor DC is partnering with schools, tutoring providers, institutes of higher education, and community-based organizations to expand the scope and impact of quality tutoring opportunities for DC’s students. We aim to support kindergarten through 12th grade public school students with high-impact tutoring. Learn more about our strategy and theory of change.

What is High-Impact Tutoring?

Two students smile while reading a bookA 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. A review of nearly 200 studies found that high-impact tutoring can lead to larger learning gains in math and reading than other school-based interventions.

Although high-impact tutoring can take a variety of forms, to achieve the biggest benefit for students, CityTutor DC believes that all programs should meet as many of the following standards as possible:

The care that tutors show fuels the motivation necessary for students to move forward academically. When a tutor cares who the student is and how the student learns best, attendance and engagement follow.
Tutors are the most important factor in helping students make academic gains, so they must be chosen, trained and retained 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.
The curriculum that tutors use with students should be aligned with state standards and grounded in high-quality research and, to the extent possible, should be based on the latest research in the science of reading (for curricula focused on early literacy) as well as providing students a clear foundation in procedural and conceptual math (for early grades math curricula). Lessons specifically designed for tutors are best to use with students, acknowledging that not all tutors have as much pedagogical content knowledge as teachers.
At a minimum, students in tutoring should be engaged 90 minutes per week, in multiple sessions per week, for 10 weeks. Research has conclusively found a link between tutoring frequency – the total amount of time students are engaged in tutoring, sometimes called dosage – and effect on student learning, provided, of course, that the tutoring meets other standards for quality.
Tutoring sessions should ideally have one or two students, and the maximum size should be four students. What makes tutoring effective, even when implemented by those without teacher training or experience, is that a tutor can 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.
Students receiving tutoring should be regularly assessed using high-quality, aligned formative assessments. The data generated by those assessments should be used to adjust what tutors work on with students. That formative assessment data, along with other key data on quality (e.g., attendance, summative test scores, student satisfaction), should be used for continuous improvement.
Ideally, tutoring should be embedded into the school day schedule. Not only can deep connections between school and tutoring enable tutors to readily sync with teachers and administrators to learn what students need, but it is also a means of ensuring greater equity of access. Still, tutoring can take place in other community settings as long as efforts are made to connect what tutors are doing with what students are learning in school.

CityTutor Hubs

Tutor helping student with work on their laptop

A key aspect of our work is the creation and support of CityTutor Hubs. These Hubs serve as gathering spaces for students and trained tutors to build trusted partnerships as students grow in their academic achievement. CityTutor DC is providing funding, training, tools, and collaboration to ensure Hubs are successful and meet the needs of every student.

Learn more about our latest CityTutor Hubs.

Design Sprints

Our Design Sprints are a multi-week learning series that support school teams in designing and implementing high-impact tutoring into their intervention work.

Our next round of Design Sprints will be held in January.

Tutor working with student at desk

Design Sprint participants will receive: 

  • Facilitation to help leaders integrate high-impact tutoring into the school day
  • Support in designing and redesigning an implementation plan and follow-up implementation support
  • Best practices and ongoing coaching and support for continuous improvement
  • A community of like-minded leaders in DC Public and Charter Schools
  • Greater access to qualified tutors to support your school team

Who should attend?

  • School leaders with the ability to approve budgets and schedules
  • Counselors who manage the master schedule
  • Academic deans and/or Instructional coaches
  • Lead content teachers

Note: You should participate as a school team, with at least two participants from your school

Staff

CityTutor DC is led by education professionals who share a commitment to the success of every student.

Cat Peretti

Executive Director

Deidra Bailey

Director of Implementation

Gina Burd

Director of Partnerships

Matt Gasper

Grants Manager

Jasmyn Gilmore

Project Coordinator

Savannah Becknell

Project Coordinator

Susannah Tsien

Director of Interventions

Renee Metellus

Project Coordinator

Advisory Group

The CityTutor DC Advisory Group has been instrumental in shaping CityTutor DC’s vision. Their strategic advice and expertise help us refine our approach and embrace opportunities to better serve our students furthest from opportunity.

Shukurat-Adamoh-Faniyan headshot

Shukurat Adamoh-Faniyan

Executive Director, Reading Partners

Darius Baxter Headshot

Darius Baxter

CEO & Co-Founder, GOODProjects

Josh Boots Headshot

Josh Boots

Founder & Executive Director, EmpowerK12

Maya Martin Cadogan Headshot

Maya Martin Cadogan

Founder and Executive Director, PAVE

Rictor Craig Headshot

Rictor Craig

Founding Director of Instruction, Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys

Charlene Desanges

Director of Academic Strategy at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy Headshot

Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy

Dean, School of Education, American University
Lynsey Wood Jeffries Headshot

Lynsey Wood Jeffries

Chief Executive Officer, Higher Achievement

Katrina Owens

Chief Executive Officer, DC SCORES

Kimberly Perry Headshot

Kimberly Perry

Executive Director, DC Action

Michael Stevens Headshot

Michael Stevens

Senior Vice President and Executive Director, City Year DC

Dr. Beshon Trusty

Executive Director, DC Metro with Higher Achievement

Niya White Headshot

Niya White

Principal, Center City DC PCS

Michelle Yan

Interim Chief of Staff, Office of the Deputy Mayor of Education

CityTutor DC