IES Predoctoral Program Seminar: Dr. Susanna Loeb

The University of Pennsylvania Predoctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Research Methods for Field-based Research in Education, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), welcomes Dr. Susanna Loeb to our weekly seminar series.

Opportunistic Study of High-Impact Tutoring: Learning from the Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Presented by Dr. Susanna Loeb, Brown University

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted schooling across the country, disengaging many students from school and leading to substantially reduced learning, especially for students living in poverty and from communities of color. An unusually rich research base provides evidence that tutoring can be one of the most effective academic interventions — leading to an average of more than four months of additional learning in elementary literacy and almost 10 months of additional learning in high school math. Yet, traditionally tutoring has not been accessible to students with the greatest needs. The National Student Support Accelerator, an initiative of the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, has partnered with over a dozen school districts and tutoring providers to implement tutoring programs, to learn from these efforts, and to develop tools and other resources to aid in the provision of high-impact tutoring broadly. Using the current context and tutoring as an example, this talk will address the role of research in changing educational practice and describe the results of an opportunistic study of tutoring implementation during the pandemic to consider how and what we can learn in the moment.  

More information
The IES Predoctoral Program’s weekly seminar series connects program fellows and affiliates to scholars and practitioners who engage in educational research and the development of research methods.

Seminars are likely of interest to doctoral students and faculty. If you are interested in attending virtually, please email Melanie Bahti for Zoom information.