Small Group Tuition (SGT) is a key intervention strategy that builds on the foundation of the COVID Intensive Learning Support Program, feedback from schools, as well as national and international evidence for students that need additional support in literacy and numeracy.

Research shows that small group tuition, delivered by well-trained educators, is very effective in boosting students’ learning and can improve student confidence and engagement.

The following links will direct you to external research in a range of related areas:

Small Group Tuition as an effective intervention strategy

There is a growing body of evidence showing small-group tuition can boost student learning.

• Cullinane and Montacute (2023) Tutoring - The New Landscape: Recent trends in private and school-based tutoring, The Sutton Trust.
• Evidence for Learning (2021) Small group tuition: Moderate impact for low cost based on moderate evidence, Evidence for Learning.
• Sonnemann, J., and Hunter, J. (2023) Tackling under-achievement: Why Australia should embed high-quality small-group tuition in schools. Grattan Institute.
• Inder, A (2023) Tiered literacy and numeracy interventions | Australian Education Research Organisation (edresearch.edu.au) AERO.
• Minea-Pic A (2023) Catching up on lost learning opportunities: Research and policy evidence on key learning recovery strategies, OECD Education Working Papers, No. 292, OECD Publishing, Paris.
• Mancenido, Z, Carr, D and de Bruin, K. (2023) One in five secondary students has not mastered basic skills - How do schools help them to catch up? | Australian Education Research Organisation (edresearch.edu.au) AERO.
• Victorian Department of Education and Training (2020) Out-Of-Class Small Group Learning: Advice for Schools, Victorian Department of Education and Training.

Engagement and wellbeing

Explore a range of research which identifies strategies to promote engagement and wellbeing in SGT.

• Education Endowment Foundation (2022) Making a difference with effective tutoring Education Endowment Foundation.
• Roche A, Gervasoni A and Kalogeropoulos P (2021) 'Factors That Promote Interest and Engagement in Learning Mathematics for Low-Achieving Primary Students across Three Learning Settings', Mathematics Education Research Journal, 35(3):525-556, doi:10.1007/s13394-021-00402-w.
• White S, Groom-Thomas L, Susanna Loeb S (2023) A Systematic Review of Research on Tutoring Implementation: Considerations when Undertaking Complex Instructional Supports for Students, EdWorkingPaper: 22-652, Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
• Zhang Q and Storey N (2022) Controversies behind COVID learning loss: Historical issues, current measurements, and future strategies Theory into Practice, 61(3):300-311, doi:10.1080/00405841.2022.2096380.

Effective implementation

Understand more about optimal group sizes, accounting for differing levels of ability, lesson lengths, lesson frequency, timetabling and modes of delivery.

• de Bruin K, Kestel E, Francis M, Forgasz H and Fries R (2023) Supporting students significantly behind in literacy and numeracy: a review of evidence-based approaches, (AERO 2023)
• Falk-Ross F, Dealy A, Porcelli J, Hammond J and Evans B (2017) After-School Programs for Bilingual Students: Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives and Students’ Achievement (Falk-Ross et al. 2017) Reading & Writing Quarterly, 33(4):335-347, doi:10.1080/10573569.2017.1324827.
• Hall MS and Burns MK (2018) Meta-analysis of targeted small-group reading interventions (Hall and Burns 2018) 'Meta-analysis of targeted small-group reading interventions', Journal of School Psychology, 66:54-66
• Miles KP, McFadden KE, Colenbrander D and Ehri LC (2022) Maximising access to reading intervention: comparing small group and one‐to‐one protocols of Reading Rescue (Miles et al. 2022) Journal of Research in Reading, 45(3):299-323, doi:10.1111/1467-9817.12383.
• Nickow A, Oreopoulos P and Quan V (2020) The impressive effects of tutoring on prek-12 learning: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental evidence, (Nickow et al. 2020)EdWorkingPaper: 20-267.
• Robinson CD, Loeb S (2021) High-Impact Tutoring: State of the Research and Priorities for Future Learning, EdWorkingPaper: 21-384, Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
• Robinson CD, Kraft MA, Loeb S and Schueler BE (2021) Accelerating Student Learning with High-Dosage Tutoring. Ed Research for Recovery Design Principles Series (Robinson et al. 2021) Ed Research for Recovery Project, US.
• Slavin, RE., Inns A, Pellegrin M, Lake C (2019) Response to Proven Intervention (RTPI): Enabling struggling learners, (Slavin et al. 2019) Baltimore, MD: Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University.
• Sonnemann J, Hunter J, Stobart A (2023) How to embed small-group tuition in schools: A guide for school leaders, (Sonnemann et al. 2023) Grattan Institute.

SGT for literacy intervention

Explore research undertaken in literacy intervention including commercial literacy programs.

• De Bruin K (2021) Tier 2 Literacy Interventions in Australian Schools: A Review of the Evidence, Catholic Education, Melbourne.
• De Haan M (2021) 'Supporting struggling adolescent readers through the Response to Intervention (RTI) framework', Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 26(1):47-66, doi:10.1080/19404158.2020.1870512.
• Gillam SL, Vaughn S, Roberts G, Capin P, Fall A-M, Israelsen-Augenstein M, Holbrook S, Wada R, Hancock A, Fox C, Dille J, Magimairaj BM and Gillam RB (2023) 'Improving oral and written narration and reading comprehension of children at-risk for language and literacy difficulties: Results of a randomized clinical trial', Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(1):99-117, doi:10.1037/edu0000766.
• Neitzel AJ, Lake C, Pellegrini M and Slavin RE (2022) A synthesis of quantitative research on programs for struggling readers in elementary schools Reading Research Quarterly, 57(1):149-179, doi:10.1002/rrq.379.

Commercial literacy program - MacqLit:

• Wheldall K, Bell N, Wheldall R and Madelaine A (2019) 'A Small Group Intervention for Older Primary School-Aged Low-Progress Readers: Further Evidence for Efficacy', Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 36(2):35-40, doi:10.1017/edp.2019.15.

Commercial literacy program - MiniLit:

• Reynolds M, Buckingham J, Madelaine A, Arakelian S, Bell N, Pogorzelski S, Wheldall R and Wheldall K (2021) 'What We Have Learned: Implementing MiniLit as an Intervention with Young Struggling Readers', Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 26(2):113-125, doi:10.1080/19404158.2021.1989605.

SGT for numeracy intervention

Explore research undertaken in numeracy intervention.

• Bouck EC and Cosby MD (2017) 'Tier 2 response to intervention in secondary mathematics education', Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 61(3):239-247, doi:10.1080/1045988X.2016.1266595. (article in folder)
• Doabler CT, Clarke B, Kosty D, Kurtz-Nelson E, Fien H, Smolkowski K and Baker SK (2019) 'Examining the Impact of Group Size on the Treatment Intensity of a Tier 2 Mathematics Intervention within a Systematic Framework of Replication', Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(2):168-180, doi:10.1177/0022219418789376.
• Doabler CT, Clarke B, Kosty D, Fien H, Smolkowski K, Liu M and Baker SK (2019) 'Measuring the Quantity and Quality of Explicit Instructional Interactions in an Empirically Validated Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention', Learning Disability Quarterly, 44(1):50-62, doi:10.1177/0731948719884921.
• Gervasoni A, Roche A and Downton A (2021) 'Differentiating Instruction for Students Who Fail to Thrive in Mathematics: The Impact of a Constructivist-Based Intervention Approach', Mathematics Teacher Education & Development, 23(3):207-233. (article in folder)
• Jayanthi M, Gersten R, Schumacher RF, Dimino J, Smolkowski K and Spallone S (2021) 'Improving Struggling Fifth-Grade Students' Understanding of Fractions: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention That Stresses Both Concepts and Procedures', Exceptional Children, 88(1):81-100, doi:10.1177/00144029211008851. (article in folder)