An Evaluation of the Air Tutors Program - A 1-Year Follow-Up on Math Achievement - Findings From an Arnold Ventures Grant

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang

An evaluation examines one-year follow-up outcomes for the Air Tutors high-dosage math tutoring program, building on a prior short-term study. Using a quasi-experimental design with Mahalanobis distance matching, the analysis compares treatment students with observationally similar peers who did not receive tutoring, across full-sample and 24-hour dosage groups. Outcome measures rely on statewide standardized summative math assessments (CMAS and STAAR) about one year after the intervention concluded, evaluating impacts, baseline equivalence, and key findings.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Methods

Baseline Equivalence

Key Findings

Introduction

Long-Term Impact of Air Tutors on Student Achievement

Impact Evaluation Methodology

Outcome Measure

Impact Results

Discussion

References

An Evaluation of the Air Tutors Program: A 1-Year Follow-Up on Math Achievement Findings From an Arnold Ventures Grant Anthony Fong Min Chen-Gaddini Min Huang February 2026 © 2026 WestEd. All rights reserved. Suggested citation: Fong, A., Chen-Gaddini, M., & Huang, M. (2026) . An evaluation of the Air Tutors program: A 1-year follow-up on math achievement. WestEd. WestEd is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to improve the lives of children and adults at all ages of learning and development. We do this by addressing challenges in education and human development, increasing opportunity, and helping build communities where all can thrive. WestEd staff conduct and apply research, provide technical assistance, and support professional learning. We work with early learning educators, classroom teachers, local and state leaders, and policymakers at all levels of government. For more information, [visit](visit WestEd.org. For)[ ](visit WestEd.org. For)[WestEd.org](visit WestEd.org. For)[. For](visit WestEd.org. For) regular updates on research, free resources, solutions, and job postings from WestEd, subscribe to the E-Bulletin, our semimonthly e-newsletter, [at](at WestEd.org/subscribe)[ ](at WestEd.org/subscribe)[WestEd.org/subscribe](at WestEd.org/subscribe). Contents Acknowledgement iv Executive Summary 1 Methods 1 Baseline Equivalence 1 Key Findings 2 Introduction 3 Long-Term Impact of Air Tutors on Student Achievement 3 Impact Evaluation Methodology 3 Outcome Measure 4 Impact Results 4 Discussion 10 References 12 Acknowledgement This follow-up study would not have been possible without the generous support, dedication, and contributions of numerous individuals and organizations. We extend our sincere gratitude to the following groups and partners: Arnold Ventures foundation We deeply appreciate Arnold Ventures’ continued financial support and commitment to advancing rigorous educational research. Its investment in both the original evaluation and this extended analysis made this work possible. Teachers and students from the study districts We are grateful to the students and teachers who participated in the Air Tutors program and contributed data over multiple years. Their engagement and cooperation provided valuable insights into both the short-and long-term impacts of the program. Administrators from the study districts We appreciate the support of district and school administrators in District A and District B. Their coordination, data sharing, and commitment to student learning greatly facilitated the implementation of both the initial evaluation and this long-term follow-up study. Air Tutors team We thank the Air Tutors team for their collaboration throughout the evaluation period. Their openness in discussing program implementation and tutoring practices helped deepen our understanding of the intervention. Executive Summary This brief is a follow-up to WestEd’s 2025 evaluation of the Air Tutors high-dosage math tutoring program (Fong et al., 2025) . Whereas the 2025 evaluation assessed the impact of the Air Tutors program on short-term student outcomes, the evaluation described in this brief assessed the impact of the Air Tutors program on long-term student outcomes. More specifically, this evaluation sought to answer the following research question: Does student participation in the Air Tutors program have a positive impact on math achievement as measured by the state standardized summative math assessment that is administered 1 year after the delivery of the tutoring? Methods Similar to the prior study (Fong et al., 2025), this evaluation employed a quasi-experimental design using Mahalanobis distance matching to compare students who received Air Tutors math instruction (treatment group) with observationally similar students who did not receive tutoring (comparison group) . Two analytic samples were examined: a full-sample analy

FAQs

What research question does the one-year follow-up address?

It asks whether participation in the Air Tutors program positively impacts math achievement as measured by a state standardized summative math assessment administered one year after tutoring delivery.

How does the study compare students who received tutoring with those who did not?

It uses a quasi-experimental design with Mahalanobis distance matching to create treatment and comparison groups based on observable similarities.

What are the main outcome measures and assessment timeline?

The study uses standardized scale scores (z-scores by state and grade) from statewide summative math assessments administered in spring 2025, roughly one year after tutoring ended in the 2023–24 school year.

What do the key findings indicate about long-term impacts?

Across the full sample, differences versus comparison students were small and not statistically significant. For the 24-hour dosage group, the combined effect across districts was also small and not statistically significant.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bintang