The free tool provides states, school districts, and vendors with tools and best practices to monitor high-dosage tutoring implementation.
October 7, 2025 (Cambridge, MA) — Today the Strategic Data Project (SDP), an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University, and national non-profit Accelerate released the High-Dosage Tutoring Data Toolkit—a free tool to help states and districts assess high-dosage tutoring implementation, and to bring effective high-dosage tutoring programs to as many students as possible.
Accelerate and the Strategic Data Project collaborated with SDP Fellows from state departments of education in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, and Ohio to create the High-Dosage Tutoring Data Toolkit. The shared goal: Use data to expand access to effective tutoring in real schools, for real students.
“The Strategic Data Project shares Accelerate’s vision to put research-backed strategies into practice where it matters most: in schools and classrooms,” said Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate. “This toolkit puts actionable resources directly in the hands of states to build effective tutoring at scale, and improve outcomes for more students.”
Research shows that high-dosage tutoring is a powerful intervention to accelerate student learning. On average, students who receive tutoring can gain about a third of a grade level of learning per year (Nickow et al., 2024). This is a meaningful difference: In three years, students can gain a full extra year of learning. However, states and school districts have faced common challenges in implementing and monitoring tutoring programs, limiting their ability to understand what was working, or identify roadblocks.
The High-Dosage Tutoring Toolkit presents solutions to common challenges experienced by states and provides a set of data collection strategies, tools, and best practices to bring effective high-dosage tutoring programs to help state administrators monitor the implementation and impact of high-dosage tutoring, including:
- Data Dictionary: A core set of variables to monitor tutoring programs;
- Data Collection Protocol: Steps to streamline data collection;
- Data Collection Tool: A template to gather data from districts and tutoring providers;
- Data Dashboard: A template to visualize and communicate key trends; and
- State Case Studies: Real state examples of tutoring data collection in action.
SDP Fellows from each state built their data collection and analysis skills in a two-year Strategic Data Project Fellowship and engaged in data projects that helped track the implementation and impact of high-dosage tutoring programs. They also met regularly as a working group to share ideas, solve problems, and develop resources to help other states.
“For over a decade, the Strategic Data Project has partnered with education agencies to strengthen their capacity for using data effectively,” said Strategic Data Project Senior Director Miriam Greenberg. “This toolkit is another step in our mission to ensure that every program, including high-dosage tutoring, is informed by meaningful evidence and analysis.”
While the toolkit is designed primarily for applied researchers, it will also benefit district leaders, tutoring vendors, academic researchers, and policymakers who will gain increased access to consistent data on tutoring implementation and the ability to evaluate and make informed decisions about funding and scaling existing programs.
The Data Toolkit will not end with this set of states. Going forward, Accelerate will continue to capture best practices in the Data Alignment and Tutoring Assessment Standards (DATAS). As five additional states join the SDP network in fall 2025 through Accelerate’s second States Leading Recovery grant program, they will inherit a living standard, a community of practice, and a clear path to integration. In turn, their innovations will feed back into DATAS, sharpening the tools and strengthening the evidence base for everyone.
“Research should drive every step we take to help students catch up and thrive,” noted Accelerate’s managing director of research and evaluation, Dr. Matthew Steinberg. “Using this toolkit, states and districts can measure progress and focus on strategies that actually work.”
To access the toolkit, visit https://sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/high-dosage-tutoring-toolkit.
About the Strategic Data Project
Harvard’s Strategic Data Project (SDP) works with education agencies to find and train data leaders to uncover trends, measure solutions, and effectively communicate evidence to stakeholders. SDP’s network of system leaders, fellows, and faculty come together to share how to best use data to make a difference in the lives of students. SDP Fellows are driving data-informed change in over 300 school systems and organizations. Learn more at sdp.cepr.harvard.edu.
About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University
The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.
About Accelerate
Accelerate is a national nonprofit that helps states turn strong evidence into real results for students. By aligning research, policy, and practice, Accelerate helps states scale proven strategies in public schools. Through grantmaking, research partnerships, and state implementation support, Accelerate ensures that what works in studies translates into measurable gains in classrooms nationwide. For more information, visit www.accelerate.us.
