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This page provides comprehensive information emphasizing the implementation of high-impact tutoring practices to address learning gaps in students. It outlines key legislative changes in House Bill 1416, details how students failing assessments can receive specialized tutoring, and lists the characteristics of effective high-impact tutoring programs. The page offers tools, guidance, webinars, and examples, highlighting the importance of targeted support to accelerate learning and improve student outcomes in the Texas education system.

HB 1416 Ratio Waiver List Product Application Process

House Bill 1416, 88(R) requires TEA to approve automated, computerized, or other augmented method products for providing accelerated instruction. Approved products may be used to waive the 4 to 1 student to tutor ratio required by statute if evidence indicates that the product is more effective than individual or group instruction. LEAs may still use any curricular tool they choose to support accelerated instruction, but only products approved through the HB 1416 Ratio Waiver List qualify for the waiver of the 4 to 1 student to teacher ratio. 

Interested vendors may access additional information here and applications must be submitted by Friday, April 19th. 

Accelerated Instruction Requirements in Texas

Texas law requires all students who do not achieve approaches or higher on STAAR grades 3 through 8 or EOC assessments be provided accelerated instruction. These requirements, modified by House Bill 4545 of the 87th legislature and recently updated with the passage of House Bill 1416 in the 88th legislature, provide that qualifying students must be:

  • Assigned a TIA designated teacher for the subsequent school year in the applicable subject area;

OR

  • Provided supplemental instruction aligned with the research on high impact tutoring in the TEKS for the applicable grade levels and subject area in the following manner:
    • No less than 15 or 30 hours depending on student performance and is provided in the summer or at least once per week in the school year;
    • Limited to two subjects per year, prioritizing math and RLA;
    • Provided in a group of no more than four students, unless the parent or guardian of each student in the group authorizes a larger group;
    • Designed to assist the student in achieving satisfactory performance in the applicable grade level and subject area and includes effective instructional materials designed for supplemental instruction;
    • Provided by a person with training in the applicable instructional materials for the supplemental instruction and provided by one person for the entirety of their accelerated instruction.

Key Changes in Requirements from HB 1416

House Bill 1416 updated accelerated instruction requirements from House Bill 4545 by: 

  • Removing the requirement for Accelerated Learning Committees while requiring Accelerated Education Plan after student fails to achieve approaches or higher on two consecutive assessments in the same subject area 
  • Limiting tutoring to 2 subjects and no longer including optional assessment administrations
  • Increasing student to tutor ratio from 3:1 to 4:1 ratio for tutoring group size  
  • Reducing minimum hour requirement from 30 to 15 for some students* 
  • Providing student to teacher ratio waivers for use of approved online curriculum (approvals available spring 2024) 

Additional details are available in the resources section below.

*HB 1416 requires TEA to define requirements for students requiring 30 hours of supplemental instruction through the rulemaking process. TEA will propose rules that will provide that students who fall into the "Low Does Not Meet" category of STAAR performance receive no less than 30 hours of supplemental instruction. The rules will also provide that students in third grade who do not approach grade level or higher will be required to receive 30 hours of supplemental instruction.

TEA Guidance

Templates/Tools 

High Impact Tutoring and Student Outcomes

Early data indicates that school closures and disruptions in SY19-20 and SY20-21 are likely to result in unfinished learning for many students statewide, making multi-year recovery and acceleration supports even more crucial. As LEAs consider how to best facilitate learning acceleration, many are considering high impact tutoring (HIT), as there is strong evidence that high impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to increase learning gains for students.

High-impact tutoring programs have a few key characteristics:

One-on-one
Well-trained, consistent tutor (can be a teacher, paraprofessional, or teacher candidate) who builds a strong relationship with students
Instructional Material
High-quality instructional material aligned to standards and core classwork
tutor-icon.png
One-to-one or small group for individualized support (1-3 student max. ratio recommended)
Time
Embedded in, or immediately before or after, the school day to maximize student access
blue-calendar-icon.png
At least three sessions per week for sustained support; Minimum of 30 minutes
Data Driven
Data-driven with tutors building sessions around student strengths and needs

Texas students have experienced academic growth post-Covid but learning acceleration is still critically needed, particularly in Math. On the 2022 STAAR, only 52% of students met grade level expectations in Reading Language Arts while only 40% of students met grade level in math.1

Evidence suggests that high impact tutoring can have a significant impact on outcomes for students:

A 2020 meta-analysis of 96 studies of high-quality tutoring programs found that students made 5 months of additional progress on average, a large pooled 0.37 effect size.1

The average effect of tutoring programs on student achievement is larger than the effects found in approximately 85% of studies evaluating education interventions and equivalent to moving a student at the 35th percentile of the achievement distribution to the 50th.2

“Teachers reported students' enthusiasm, and progress. They saw many positives to the program which they believed led to student success including the small teacher to student ratio, consistently teaching the same small group of students, consistent tutoring days and times and utilizing the program with fidelity.

Over 90% of students in the High Impact Tutoring reading program increased reading fluency from March 2022 to mid-May 2022. During that same time period, a majority of students gained ½ year reading level in less than 3 months as measured by our district reading assessment and most students improved substantially in basic reading TEKS as measured by our universal screener.”

— Administrator, Greenville ISD

1 Nickow, Andre Joshua, Philip Oreopoulos, and Vincent Quan. (2020).
2 Kraft, M. A. (2020).

Tutoring Implementation Supports

High Impact Tutoring Toolkit

HIT Toolkit PDF Mockup

Early data indicates that school closures and disruptions in SY19-20 and SY20-21 are likely to result in unfinished learning for many students statewide, making multi-year recovery and acceleration supports even more crucial. As LEAs consider how to best facilitate learning acceleration, many are considering high impact tutoring, as there is strong evidence that high impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to increase learning gains for students.

The High Impact Tutoring Toolkit (PDF) is designed to help districts think through key pieces of program design and make connections to other helpful resources. While this toolkit is not exhaustive, it outlines the foundational principles and key considerations that all LEAs should consider when implementing a high impact tutoring program.

Toolkit Resources

Introduction & TEA Supports

Program Design

Program Implementation

Scheduling

Tutoring and Scheduling

Fidelity of Implementation Self-evaluation

Fidelity of Implementation Rubric

The LEA Fidelity of Implementation (FOI) rubric is a tool used to self-evaluate High Impact Tutoring (HIT) programs at the district level. This self-evaluation rubric is required for all TCLAS Decision 6 districts. Non-TCLAS Decision 6 districts can use these materials as optional self-evaluation measures. Please review these materials and sign up for the optional office hours should your LEA have any questions about the tool. Additionally, all districts have an Education Service Center (ESC) HIT Lead who can assist with the implementation of this rubric. Please reach out to your ESC for training requirements, FOI due dates, and FOI submission protocols.

The 2023-2024 EOY LEA FOI Rubric is available for download. The EOY 2024 submission deadline for D6 LEAs is Friday, June 14.

TEA will offer an Office Hour on Tuesday, May 14 at 9:30 A.M. CST. Register here.

FOI Rubric Resources

Additional Resources

District Examples

Master Schedule Examples

Other District Examples

  • Coming Soon

School Year Staffing

Contact Information

Have questions or want to share a resource with other LEAs? Please reach out to accelerated.instruction@tea.texas.gov.

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