In 2024–25, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) launched a districtwide pilot of virtual, high-dosage, 1:1 literacy tutoring in partnership with three providers: Hoot, Ignite Reading, and OpenLiteracy. This initiative aimed to address early reading gaps, particularly in phonics, for K–2 students who were below grade level.
Key Findings
- High implementation fidelity: Over 80% of tutored students received at least 20 sessions, and nearly 60% received 900+ minutes of tutoring.
- Targeted and equitable reach: Schools followed district guidelines in selecting students most in need of support.
- Meaningful academic impact:
- On the i-Ready Phonics assessment, tutored students gained the equivalent of 1.3 additional months of learning, and those who received 15+ hours saw gains of 1.6 months.
- On the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency-Accuracy assessment, students gained up to 9 months of additional learning, though this result is based on a smaller sample and should be interpreted with caution.
- Mixed results elsewhere: Tutored students showed similar or slightly lower gains in overall literacy and fluency on other assessments.
- Provider variation: Students with Ignite Reading outperformed others on the i-Ready Overall assessment, with gains equivalent to 1.5 extra months of learning.
Implications
Oakland’s pilot stands out as a rare, large-scale, real-world example of effective virtual tutoring. Even at modest doses, students showed measurable gains in foundational skills—suggesting that virtual 1:1 tutoring, when implemented strategically and equitably, can be a powerful tool for early literacy recovery.
