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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Parent / Adult tutoring

Overview

  • Influence: Parent / Adult tutoring
  • Domain: Student Learning Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Student perspectives in learning
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: When a student's parents/guardians/adults tutor them at home.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 5
  • Number of studies: 112
  • Number of students: 9,182
  • Number of effects: 310
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.61
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Education and Treatment in Children Erion Parent tutoring: a meta-analysis 2006 Parent tutoring children 32 NA 32 0.82
Review of Educational Research Ritter, Barnett, Denny & Albin The effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs for elementary and middle school students: A meta-analysis 2009 Adult volunteers 21 2,180 28 0.26
Journal of Educational Psychology Elbaum, Vaughn, Hughes & Moody How effective are one-to-one tutoring programs in reading for elementary students at risk for reading failure? A meta-analysis of the intervention research. 2000 One-one tutoring programs in reading 29 325 216 0.67
Conference paper Lindo Examining the Potential of Parents as Reading Tutors for Students in 3rd–12th Grades: A Meta-Analysis. 2016 Parents as tutors 13 1,612 14 0.76
Conference paper Tunzi Are volunteer tutors effective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 1:1 volunteer-based tutoring programs 2020 Volunteer tutors 17 5,065 20 0.42
TOTAL/AVERAGE 112 9,182 310 0.59
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