Provider: Air Reading
Program Description
Air Reading provides live online tutoring to K–8 students reading below grade level. Each tutor works with 1 to 4 students and stays with them all year. Tutors are paid professionals with at least a bachelor’s degree, a teaching license, and early-grades teaching experience. Sessions run about 30 minutes, 4 times a week, for the full year, using a science-of-reading curriculum with regular progress checks.
Findings
- Significant positive effect: Students gained about three extra months of learning (+0.29 SD) based on reading scores, and achieved an 11-percentile-point gain compared to students who didn’t get tutoring. Outcomes were measured using either state assessments or literacy screeners, depending on students’ grade level and state.
- Students received, on average, 27.1 hours of tutoring. 56% reached the program’s high-dosage target of at least 56 sessions; those students saw somewhat bigger reading gains (3.3 months of additional learning), though lower-dosage students also improved meaningfully (2.7 months of additional learning).
- No evidence that effects differed across the examined subgroups. All subgroup point estimates were positive.
- The costs were about $1,700 per student (cost to society), or $1,500 cost to the school. Students achieved roughly 1.3–2.4 months of additional learning per $1,000 spent. Comparison students followed their school’s normal reading instruction.
- The program showed positive results across two different states; however, what students who didn’t receive tutoring were doing during tutoring time is not well defined, making the impact estimate harder to interpret.
| Research Partner | CRRE (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Study Year | 2024-25 |
| Study Location | Louisiana (one large, suburban school district) and Texas (one smaller, rural school district) |
| Modality | Virtual Synchronous |
| Study Design | RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) |
| Total Sample | 377 students randomly assigned (359 included in the final analysis), 163 received tutoring, 196 control, across the Louisiana and Texas districts |
| Characteristics of Treatment Group | Female: 53% Male: 47% Black: 37% Hispanic: 46% White: 14% Other Race(s): 3% English Language Learner: 25% Students with Disabilities (IEP): 14% Economically Disadvantaged: 74% |
| Subject | Reading/ELA |
| Grades | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Average Actual Dosage | 27.1 hours |
| Scheduled Dosage | 40 hours |
