skip to main content
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Back Button

Tutoring: By non-certificated adults, small-group, structured

Pre-K to 12 Education
Benefit-cost methods last updated December 2023.  Literature review updated April 2020.
Open PDF
Tutoring by non-certificated adults in small groups reflects additional instruction outside of regular classroom instruction. Tutors, in this instance, are non-certificated adults and can be graduate students, adult volunteers, or paraeducators. In this analysis, structured and systematic approaches to reading or math instruction are taught to students that either test below average on reading comprehension or test below grade-level on standardized math tests.

Tutoring is provided within the school day to bring below-grade level performers up to grade-level in reading or math. On average, students participate in small group tutoring for three weekly, 40-minute lessons for an average of 15 weeks. In the included studies, tutoring is provided to elementary-aged students using several programs, including Math Flash and Number Sense, among other non-manualized interventions. The analysis excludes studies that focus exclusively on special education populations. Studies in the analysis compare students receiving small-group tutoring by non-certificated adults to students who receive no additional instruction outside of regular classroom instruction.
 
ALL
BENEFIT-COST
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS
For an overview of WSIPP's Benefit-Cost Model, please see this guide. The estimates shown are present value, life cycle benefits and costs. All dollars are expressed in the base year chosen for this analysis (2022). The chance the benefits exceed the costs are derived from a Monte Carlo risk analysis. The details on this, as well as the economic discount rates and other relevant parameters are described in our Technical Documentation.
Benefit-Cost Summary Statistics Per Participant
Benefits to:
Taxpayers $2,490 Benefits minus costs $10,481
Participants $5,865 Benefit to cost ratio $17.30
Others $3,091 Chance the program will produce
Indirect ($322) benefits greater than the costs 69%
Total benefits $11,124
Net program cost ($643)
Benefits minus cost $10,481

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic in order to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the types of program impacts that were measured in the research literature (for example, crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information.

Adjusted effect sizes are used to calculate the benefits from our benefit cost model. WSIPP may adjust effect sizes based on methodological characteristics of the study. For example, we may adjust effect sizes when a study has a weak research design or when the program developer is involved in the research. The magnitude of these adjustments varies depending on the topic area.

WSIPP may also adjust the second ES measurement. Research shows the magnitude of some effect sizes decrease over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. We also report the unadjusted effect size to show the effect sizes before any adjustments have been made. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured Treatment age No. of effect sizes Treatment N Adjusted effect sizes(ES) and standard errors(SE) used in the benefit - cost analysis Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
First time ES is estimated Second time ES is estimated
ES SE Age ES SE Age ES p-value
Test scores
Standardized, validated tests of academic achievement.
7 6 370 0.114 0.085 7 0.054 0.093 17 0.257 0.002
1In addition to the outcomes measured in the meta-analysis table, WSIPP measures benefits and costs estimated from other outcomes associated with those reported in the evaluation literature. For example, empirical research demonstrates that high school graduation leads to reduced crime. These associated measures provide a more complete picture of the detailed costs and benefits of the program.

2“Others” includes benefits to people other than taxpayers and participants. Depending on the program, it could include reductions in crime victimization, the economic benefits from a more educated workforce, and the benefits from employer-paid health insurance.

3“Indirect benefits” includes estimates of the net changes in the value of a statistical life and net changes in the deadweight costs of taxation.
Detailed Monetary Benefit Estimates Per Participant
Affected outcome: Resulting benefits:1 Benefits accrue to:
Taxpayers Participants Others2 Indirect3 Total
Test scores Labor market earnings associated with test scores $2,490 $5,865 $3,091 $0 $11,446
Program cost Adjustment for deadweight cost of program $0 $0 $0 ($322) ($322)
Totals $2,490 $5,865 $3,091 ($322) $11,124
Click here to see populations selected
Detailed Annual Cost Estimates Per Participant
Annual cost Year dollars Summary
Program costs $567 2018 Present value of net program costs (in 2022 dollars) ($643)
Comparison costs $0 2018 Cost range (+ or -) 20%
In the evaluations included in this meta-analysis, a non-certificated adult provides, on average, 27 hours of tutoring to groups of three to four students and receives approximately 20 hours of training. To calculate a per-student annual cost, we used average Washington State compensation costs (including benefits) for a K–8 paraeducator as reported by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, divided by the total number of students served in the studies. For the remaining studies that use a graduate student or adult volunteer tutor, we use the 2018 median wage (including benefits) of all occupations in Washington State as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, divided by the total number of students served in the studies.
The figures shown are estimates of the costs to implement programs in Washington. The comparison group costs reflect either no treatment or treatment as usual, depending on how effect sizes were calculated in the meta-analysis. The cost range reported above reflects potential variation or uncertainty in the cost estimate; more detail can be found in our Technical Documentation.
Benefits Minus Costs
Benefits by Perspective
Taxpayer Benefits by Source of Value
Benefits Minus Costs Over Time (Cumulative Discounted Dollars)
The graph above illustrates the estimated cumulative net benefits per-participant for the first fifty years beyond the initial investment in the program. We present these cash flows in discounted dollars. If the dollars are negative (bars below $0 line), the cumulative benefits do not outweigh the cost of the program up to that point in time. The program breaks even when the dollars reach $0. At this point, the total benefits to participants, taxpayers, and others, are equal to the cost of the program. If the dollars are above $0, the benefits of the program exceed the initial investment.

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Case, L.P., Speece, D.L., Silverman, R., Ritchey, K.D., Schatschneider, C., Cooper, D.H., . . . Jacobs, D. (2010). Validation of a supplemental reading intervention for first-grade children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43, 5.

Fuchs, L.S., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Paulsen, K., Bryant, J.D., & Hamlett, C.L. (2005). The prevention, identification, and cognitive determinants of math difficulty. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(3), 493-513.

Gilbert, J.K., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Bouton, B., Barquero, L.A., & Cho, E. (2013). Efficacy of a first-grade responsiveness-to-intervention prevention model for struggling readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(20, 135-154.

Jordan, N.C., Glutting, J., Dyson, N., Hassinger-Das, B., & Irwin, C. (2012). Building kindergartners' number sense: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 647-660.

Ritchey, K.D., Silverman, R.D., Montanaro, E.A., Speece, D.L., & Schatschneider, C. (2012). Effects of a tier 2 supplemental reading intervention for at-risk fourth-grade students. Exceptional Children, 78(3), 318-334.

Vadasy, P.F., & Sanders, E.A. (2008). Repeated reading intervention: Outcomes and interactions with readers' skills and classroom instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 272-290.