Written by Danielle Guindo, Executive Director

High-impact tutoring (HIT), or high-dosage tutoring, is widely endorsed by educational leaders, advocates, and researchers to help improve outcomes for students. HIT is defined by several key components, all of which have been employed by Read Alliance since its inception (and long before the terminology of “high-impact tutoring” or “high-dosage tutoring” was defined and in use):

  • Frequent (3+ times per week)
  • Small group size (no more than four students per tutor, with one-to-one tutoring as the preferred model)
  • Targeted instruction focused on specific skills or learning gaps, and designed to complement classroom instruction
  • Led by trained instructors who receive ongoing support and oversight
  • Consistent tutor-student relationship that fosters a strong connection over time

These components are largely attributed to Stanford University’s National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA), in which Read Alliance (READ) is listed as a vetted provider which means the READ model meets their standards for excellence widely recognized as the “stamp of approval” for HIT programming.

Best Practices

According to a piece in The 74, an independent nonprofit news organization that covers education in the United States, authored by HIT experts Christina Grant, Executive Director of the Center for Education Policy at Harvard University, and Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate, a national nonprofit launched to support the growth and success of tutoring and personalized learning in public schools, “Programs that deliver real results do the disciplined, unglamorous work of implementation…providing tutors with real training and support; tracking attendance and participation daily; and solving logistical problems as soon as they emerge.” They add, “It’s also important to ensure investments in tutoring are linked to results...”

Embedded in the READ model are all the essentials considered to be integral to successful HIT programming:

  • READ Teen Leaders (the tutors) and their teacher mentors are provided real and interactive training that lays the foundation for a structured, methodical approach to phonics instruction and decodable practice for struggling young readers.
  • Attendance and reading skill progress are tracked daily in READ programs. Real-time assessment of student progress is important to catch any potential learning and development delays, which can then be addressed in partnership with the school to ensure additional support or interventions that may be needed are identified early.
  • Attendance is the single greatest factor in achieving the desired outcomes: put simply, if students are not present, then they will not receive the “dosage” of support that will catalyze learning growth. READ’s attendance data demonstrates a higher participation rate than school attendance overall, and principals and teachers have shared with READ that attendance has improved during the day for students who have READ in the afternoon.
  • Finally, building in an appreciation for and understanding of how to tackle and overcome the myriad of logistical challenges that often plague program coordination within school buildings is an essential and practical component for HIT success – and core to the partnership model of Read Alliance as well.

The Layered Impact of Near Peer Tutors

Where READ differs from NSSA and Accelerate’s definitions of high-impact tutoring is that we deliver programming during out-of-school time rather than during the regular school day. Unlike most other out-of-school time tutoring providers, however, READ achieves strong attendance and student outcomes that are comparable to — or even exceed — those of programs operating during the regular school day, setting READ apart as a unique and innovative approach. READ believes that a reason for this trend is our empowerment of older youth as the tutors, who we call Teen Leaders – high school students who are trained to provide the high impact tutoring in foundational reading skills.

“There’s a powerful thing that happens when you pair teenagers with young children,” Principal Brian Blough says of the Read Alliance model, formerly head of a READ partner school in the Bronx. “They are infinitely cooler than we are, and the kids look up to them. And the students look like them, have similar experiences…it’s really meaningful to have them sit with them, one-on-one in an intimate reading relationship.”

The national Partnership for Student Success stated in their 2025 brief, Engaging High School Students in Evidence-Based Roles, “High school students have immense potential not only to shape their own futures, but also to positively influence the academic, social, and emotional outcomes of their peers. As schools and communities seek innovative and sustainable strategies to address persistent challenges such as learning gaps…engaging high school students in structured, evidence-based support roles—such as academic tutors, mentors, and post-secondary transition coaches—offers a powerful and underutilized solution.”

The exponential benefit of implementing a HIT model by leveraging high school students as the tutors is that the tutors are also growing. In fact, according to a 2023 study of READ’s summer program conducted by Dr. Susan Neuman, a nationally recognized expert on early literacy at NYU, Read Alliance’s teen tutors improve a full grade level in foundational reading skills along with the children they are tutoring. At a time when the nation’s report card demonstrates that less than a third of fourth and eighth graders are reading on grade level across the country, models that employ innovative tactics to improve reading skills for young people of all ages are essential for our future.

More than a quarter century ago, back in 2000, Read Alliance’s prescient founders identified a strategy that employed principles of the science of reading into a paired tutoring program, fostering the development of teens as they implemented a structured phonics curriculum with their younger peers.

“We are all young. The kids are young, we’re still growing. We just get to grow together.” Former Teen Leader Hunter Russell-Horton describes this experience of teens like him working one-on-one with the striving readers.

Endorsement by and Partnership with Educators

The unique Read Alliance HIT model that centers youth as the tutors has been embraced by school leaders and teachers who have seen firsthand how powerful it can be within their own schools. A key component of READ’s program is the integration of school day teachers within the READ classrooms, who provide additional mentorship for the teens and a connection to the participants’ families and school day instruction.

“When I first arrived five years ago, this school was considered a failing school,” says former Principal Jayne Hunt in Brooklyn. “Within three years, we were designated a school in good standing, and a lot of that had to do with the support that we received with Read Alliance.”

The connection between research and practice in the HIT landscape is inspiring. Ensuring that highly trained tutors, who meet regularly with their students to implement science-backed curricula that complements school day instruction are key levers to remediate – and accelerate – learning across communities. READ has been at the forefront of this work for more than a quarter century.