Just a few years ago, Louisiana ranked 49th in education. Today, we’ve climbed to 32nd.
That progress doesn’t happen by chance—it is the result of targeted, research-based interventions like high-dosage tutoring that was made into law and funded by the Louisiana legislature last year.
Amanda Martin is the founder and CEO of Studyville, an award-winning academic workspace and tutoring provider. Recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of America’s Top Small Businesses, Studyville delivers high-dosage tutoring across multiple states using a proprietary platform and evidence-based curriculum. The viewpoints expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Business Report or its staff.
This year, we have the chance to build on what’s working and capitalize on programs that work.
High dosage tutoring—tutoring delivered multiple times a week in small-group or 1:1 settings—has become one of the most effective strategies to address learning loss and accelerate student growth. In Louisiana, we are seeing students participating in HDT gaining 60+ points in DIBELS (literacy assessment scores), improving course grades (Ds to As!), and—most importantly—Amanda Martin: Keep Louisiana’s educational momentum going with high-dosage tutoring regaining their confidence.
These are not just numbers—they’re outcomes with stories behind them. A second grader who once cried before reading group now says “I love reading.”
A principal in Rapides Parish shared: “We’ve seen a noticeable shift—not just in scores, but in how students carry themselves. They believe they can succeed.”
An EBR principal stated: “We were able to see a huge difference in our students at the end of the school year … we can see that the students who worked in the high-dosage tutoring program had significant growth from the middle of the year assessments to the end of the year assessments and the data showed us that what this program is doing is valuable to our students and should continue to be supported.”
Want to hear it from the source? See how high-dosage tutoring is changing lives—directly from the principals and educators on the front lines:
What sets Louisiana apart from high-dosage tutoring programs in other states is the mandatory requirement set by LDOE and the legislature that stipulated any Louisiana public school student in grades K-5 who fall below benchmark in literacy or math and are not in a classroom with a highly effective teacher must participate in the program for 10 weeks. Creating a law and funding it ensured program success by reaching every student who qualified in the state and providing the much needed supplemental support.
Other states are now looking to Louisiana as a model for how to do this right. As legislation moves forward that could determine the future of HDT programs in our state, the message is simple: Keep going. We’ve found something that works—for struggling readers, for early learners, for the students who need it most.
