[Disclosure: Arnold Ventures helped fund the RCT of Saga Technology described in this summary.]

Saga tutoring is an intensive, in-school math tutoring program for 9th or 10th grade students at all levels of math proficiency – not just struggling students. The program is delivered by Saga Education, a nonprofit organization, in low-income high schools.1 Two closely-related versions of the program have been rigorously evaluated and found effective: Saga’s traditional program (evaluated in studies 1 and 2, below) and Saga Technology (evaluated in study 3, below).

Saga’s traditional program provides 9th or 10th graders with 50 minutes of in-school tutoring per day, 5 days per week, for one school year. The tutoring typically replaces an elective course (e.g., art or physical education), or a second hour of math (e.g., “double-dose” algebra). Tutors are well-educated individuals – often recent college graduates – who have strong math and interpersonal skills, and are willing to work for one year for a modest stipend as a public service. They receive training from Saga Education, and tutor two students at a time. The estimated program cost per student who receives tutoring is $4,800.

Saga Technology is a lower-cost adaptation of Saga’s traditional model that incorporates an education technology component. Students in the program – 9th or 10th graders – alternate, on successive days, between working with an in-person tutor and individually engaging with an education technology platform (ALEKS). Tutor qualifications are similar to those in the traditional model, as are the program’s intensity and duration (50 minutes each school day for a full school year). Tutors work with four students at a time. The estimated program cost per student who receives the program is $2,600.

Saga Education’s website is linked here.