The conversation about “high-impact tutoring” has been building for a while now. Last fall, a Harvard Graduate School of Education podcast called it the gold standard of reading intervention. This spring, PBS brought the discussion to parents across the country. So what exactly is it, and how can you get the benefits for your child this summer?

High-impact tutoring, or HIT, isn't homework help. It's targeted instruction built around very small groups of students, with a dedicated expert instructor who shows up every time. It includes frequent sessions and content carefully aligned to what each child is actually learning. Harvard education policy expert, Liz Cohen, is clear on this point: "It's not on demand. It's a consistent program." When all these ingredients come together, the results are remarkable. Research shows that students who engage in HIT can see a 30% increase in reading proficiency and gain the equivalent of 3 to 15 additional months of learning.

Here's the problem. Almost all of this research has taken place in schools, during the school year. For most families, HIT is simply out of reach during summer, the very window when children have the most time and flexibility to focus on improving their reading skills. And trying to force summer reading without any structure behind it is unlikely to work for the 2/3 of children who claim they don’t enjoy reading in the first place.

That's what this newsletter is all about. The research behind HIT doesn't stop being true just because school is out. The right summer program is able to deliver the same, research-backed ingredients. Here's what that looks like at every age.

TL;DR: High-impact tutoring is emerging as the gold standard of reading intervention. It's largely been a school-year solution until now. Here's what it is and how your child can get the benefits this summer.

In today’s issue:

• The tutoring ingredient that matters most for young readers

• The technique that helped kids gain almost a full grade level

• The reading problem most parents of teenagers don't see coming

The Impact of Relationship

For the youngest readers, the most important aspect of HIT might surprise parents. It isn't the length of a session that drives gains. It isn't even the curriculum. It's the relationship. The same expert teacher, showing up consistently, working with a small group of students who come to expect their presence. Stanford researchers found that even short periods of this kind of instruction made kindergarteners and first graders more than twice as likely to reach grade-level reading benchmarks compared to peers who didn't receive it.

A 2025 peer-reviewed pilot study, specifically designed to train new teachers to build relationships with students and facilitate small groups, found that 3rd grade students receiving this model of instruction grew at rates exceeding their non-tutored peers on benchmark reading assessments. Strong student-teacher relationships weren’t incidental to the results. They were built into the study from the start.

As Yvette Russell of the Read Alliance described on PBS: "Watching how the child's eyes light up when they see their tutor…it's not only the relationship building that we get excited about, but the outcomes. We're seeing the improvement, we're seeing the growth." Relationship is also the secret power of the Institute’s Summer Reading Programs. School may be out. But kids can still get consistent reading instruction from an expert teacher whom they come to trust—without the noise and pace of a full school day.

The Impact of Alignment

Fourth and fifth grade mark a turning point that catches many families off guard. Learning how to read gives way to science textbooks, social studies assignments, and history passages. Suddenly, the reading skills that carried a child through 3rd grade aren't enough. Strong comprehension and nonfiction reading ability aren't just useful at this age. They're the foundation everything else is built on.

What makes HIT especially powerful at this stage is its emphasis on applicability. The programs that produce the biggest gains aren't the ones that pull students aside for generic skills practice. They're the ones where instruction is tightly aligned to what students are actually learning. As Harvard education expert Liz Cohen told the Harvard EdCast: "What students need and what high-impact tutoring can give them when done well is additional academic support very closely tied to what they're doing in the classroom the rest of the day."

The results at this age level are striking. A PBS program described what happened when one group of 4th and 5th grade students received HIT for the first time: students who arrived reading at the same level as early elementary readers grew almost a full grade level over the course of instruction. Because they were practicing the skills they actually needed to succeed. And that’s precisely why the Institute designs all of its summer programs to build the exact skills your child will need when school starts in September.

The Impact of Discussion

For many middle and high school students, the reading challenge is less about ability and more about bandwidth. Between dense schoolwork across every subject and packed schedules full of sports, activities, and obligations, there simply isn't enough time or mental energy left to engage meaningfully with what they’re reading. It’s really no wonder that the steepest declines in reading enjoyment are seen among adolescents, according to the UK’s National Literacy Trust.

Expert-led, small-group discussion can help young people slow down long enough to grasp the relevance and deeper meaning of texts. Suddenly, studying feels lighter and reading everything feels a little more (gasp!) fun. That's precisely the experience HIT delivers for older students. The impact could potentially be even greater in the summer months, when there are no grades or academic deadlines to juggle. Students can reset and refocus on reading, and in the process rediscover their motivation to learn.

One research finding about format is especially surprising: this type of tutoring doesn’t have to happen in person. As Liz Cohen on Harvard EdCast notes: "You can actually do a lot of effective tutoring virtually. You can build a relationship with a tutor and a small group of students online." Helping a small group of students understand what they're reading and why it matters works just as well through a screen as it does in a classroom.