Report: State Guidance for High-Impact Tutoring

Policy Brief

May 26, 2021

The recent passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is infusing America’s K12 public schools with unprecedented, desperately needed relief funds to aid in the academic recovery of students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The $122 billion allocated to K12 public schools represents over seven times current annual Title I funding. As a part of these relief dollars, Congress has required that states and districts designate at least 5% and 20% of the total funding, respectively, to specifically address learning loss, totaling $28 billion. This funding gives education leaders across the country the opportunity to make significant investments in evidence-based programs.

Not all interventions to address unfinished instruction are created equally. We encourage states to carefully implement programs with strong evidence of improving students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes: high-impact tutoring.

Areas touched on in the analysis of state recommendations for high-impact tutoring include:

  • State Role in ARPA Use of Funds
  • Effectiveness of High-Impact Tutoring
  • Research-Based Program Guardrails
  • Publicly Available Resources
  • States Leading on High-Impact Tutoring
    • Legislative Action in Colorado; and
    • State Education Agency Action in Louisiana


This report was a joint partnership between Education Reform Now, The Education Trust, and FutureEd.