What researchers studied

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized PreK–12 tutoring field experiments. Randomized tutoring experiments spanning varied grades, subjects, tutor types, schedules, and delivery contexts

What they found

  • The final peer-reviewed article reported an overall pooled effect size of 0.288 standard deviations.
  • Effect sizes tended to be larger for programs using teachers or paraprofessionals, in earlier grades, meeting at least three days per week, and occurring during the school day.
  • The meta-analysis documents substantial variation across tutoring programs rather than one uniform effect for all tutoring.

What the study does not prove

  • A pooled effect size is an average across heterogeneous programs and is not a forecast of any individual student's or provider's outcome.
  • Moderator patterns do not prove that any one program feature independently causes a larger effect.
  • The study does not establish that Noor Lyra will reproduce the pooled effect or any specific effect size.

Evidence strength: Peer-reviewed systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized field experiments.

Why this matters for families

Tutoring can produce meaningful gains on average, but a research average is not a promise. Families should evaluate the quality and structure of the support their learner actually receives.

Noor interpretation

How Noor translates the evidence into practice

Research supports tutoring as a high-potential instructional tool, but the label 'tutoring' does not make every hour equivalent. Design, educator quality, targeting, consistency, and verification still matter.

Diagnose the blocking skill, match educator expertise to the learner's needs, maintain a purposeful cadence, document what intervention was used, and verify change with independent work rather than hours purchased.

Read the original source

Noor links to the original or authoritative source so families can distinguish the evidence itself from our interpretation.

Open original source →

DOI: 10.3102/00028312231208687

Research notes

tutoring meta-analysisrandomized trialsPreK-12learning outcomestutoring design

Revision note: For canonical website use, this record uses the final peer-reviewed publication and its 0.288 SD pooled estimate rather than the earlier 2020 working-paper estimate of 0.37 SD that appears in older Noor materials.

No single study determines a student's plan. Noor uses research as one input alongside the learner's goals, observed performance, academic context, and response to instruction.