PINE STATE
LEARNING

Daily Intensive Instruction

For students two or more years behind grade level: multiple one-on-one sessions per day, four to five days per week, until the gap closes. Offered year round; in summer, this model runs as Summer LEAP.

A tutor high-fiving a student across a desk during a one-on-one session

Why intensity

A student who is two or more years behind cannot close the gap on one hour a week; at that pace, the gap grows. Intensive instruction concentrates the work: daily lessons with a clinician, weekly lessons with a tutor, multiple sessions per day. Higher-frequency instruction closes learning gaps quickly, so students get the skills they need and get on with their lives.

An average intensive round is 90 to 120 hours of direct instruction. Skills are assessed before, monitored every session, and re-tested at the end of the round, so you see exactly what changed.

The structure
Two or more sessions per day, four to five days per week, with a one month minimum commitment. Sessions are at least 90 minutes of direct instruction. In person in Brunswick and Greater Portland, or online.
The cost
$925 to $1,850 per week depending on hours. Need based scholarships are available. Full tuition and pricing

What one intensive block did in the research

Torgesen and colleagues (2001) followed 60 students with severe reading disabilities through 67.5 hours of one-on-one instruction over 8 weeks, then for two years afterward. Reading levels below are grade equivalents: the grade level a score corresponds to.

1 2 3 4 5 Grade equivalent Before During intensive After GE 1.5 GE 2.0 GE 2.7 GE 3.5 GE 3.8 GE 4.0 GE ~2.5 16 months prior Start 4 weeks 8 weeks (post-test) 1-year follow-up 2-year follow-up
During intensive instruction After (gains held) Projected growth at the prior rate
+1.5
grade levels in 8 weeks
4.4 and 3.9
effect sizes for decoding and word reading
40%
of students exited special education at follow-up

The dashed line projects each student's growth rate from the 16 months before the study. Torgesen, J. K., et al. (2001), Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34(1), 33-58. Grade equivalents derived from reported standard scores.

Two seasons, one model

Summer LEAP
June through August, online or in coastal Maine. In 2025, LEAP students gained a mean of 2.5 grade levels in decoding over 6 to 8 weeks. Most families start here: no school schedule to work around, and students return in fall with new skills.
About Summer LEAP 2027
School year intensives
The same daily model during the school year, scheduled around or in place of school hours. We coordinate with your school on scheduling and, when there is an IEP, on how the intensive fits the plan. For some students this is the alternative to another year of falling further behind.
Ask about a school year intensive

Who intensive instruction is for

●Two or more years behind grade level in reading, writing, or math
●Once-a-week tutoring has not moved the numbers
●An IEP whose goals will not close the gap at the current pace
●A window (a semester, a summer) when the family can commit to daily work
"I have seen tremendous growth in students who have worked under Lisa Murphy's direction. Students have improved multiple grade levels and their confidence has skyrocketed."
Maine Special Education Director

Start with a free 15-minute consultation.

We will hear your child's history, look at the assessment data, and tell you honestly whether an intensive round is the right call or whether part time tutoring fits better.

Book a free 15-minute consult
207.426.4267 lisa.murphy@pinestatelearning.com
Our Commitment to Equity

We are committed to working against the way that racial and socioeconomic privilege manifests itself in the identification and remediation of learning disabilities.

We do what we can by offering need based scholarships, doing pro-bono consultation for families with economic needs, providing services in some of Maine's lowest resource schools, and working with educational advocates on the toughest cases to help ALL students get what they need.