Wake issues ‘a call to action’ for tutors to help students recover from learning loss
A new effort to help Wake County students recover from pandemic learning loss is up and running but is still in need of hundreds of additional volunteer tutors.
The Wake County school system and the YMCA of the Triangle officially kicked off the WakeTogether program this month as part of an effort to provide intensive reading help to elementary school students.
Around 100 tutors have already completed the background check and virtual training sessions to begin working with students. But many more tutors are needed for the rest of this school year and the years ahead.
“It is a launch,” Drew Cook, Wake’s assistant superintendent for academics, said at the kickoff event at Southeast Raleigh Elementary School. “We are celebrating work that has been done by lots of people over the last few months.
“But it’s also a call to action and, I think, a reminder that we’ve got lots of work ahead of us.”
Prospective tutors can go to waketogether.ymcatriangle.org to register to become volunteers and to learn more about the program.
The school board approved using $870,000 from the district’s reserves to fund the new tutoring program. The money will be used to provide training to school employees and volunteer tutors.
‘Lots of challenges’
The program comes amid research showing that the pandemic put students months and, in some cases, more than a year behind academically.
“We all know that the pandemic has left us with a number of challenges, including the fact that our students were disadvantaged academically by not being in in-person instruction on a daily basis. And that is the work that is before us now,” said Wake Superintendent Catty Moore.
“Our focus is how do we make sure that we fill the gaps, that we make room for progress, that we’re getting the growth and getting students back where we want them to be.”
Wake’s passing rates on state exams improved this past school year but are still below pre-pandemic levels.
▪ Wake’s overall proficiency rate on state exams dropped from 65.2% in the 2018-19 school year to 55.4% in the 2020-21 school year then up to 61.4% last school year.
▪ Among Wake’s third- through eighth-graders, 59.5% passed the state end-of-grade math exam last year and 59.9% passed the reading EOG.
▪ Wake’s third-grade reading scores didn’t rebound last school year like it did in other grade levels.
“It was a difficult two-plus years,” Cook said. “There are lots of challenges that occurred then that have ripple effects and implications for the years ahead. We don’t have to look very far for data points, I think, that show us that.”
High-dosage tutoring
The Raleigh-based HELPS Education Fund helps schools improve the literacy skills of students using proven strategies such as focusing on phonics. The YMCA of the Triangle has been using the HELPS program with some Wake students since 2019.
Research has shown that “high-dosage tutoring” programs such as HELPS can be effective at helping students get caught up.
Tom Oxholm, a member of the YMCA of the Triangle’s board of directors and a former school board member, pitched expanded use of the HELPS program to the district six months ago.
“We’re also hopeful that this will start something in our state that spreads across our state and spreads across the country and proves that communities can get involved and will step forward and do the right thing when asked,” said Oxholm, who also tutors students in the program.
Kim Keith, vice president of youth development for the YMCA of the Triangle, said they’re starting the program small this school year by focusing on 30 Title I elementary schools. Those schools have high numbers of economically disadvantaged students, a group that was particularly hard hit by the pandemic.
Cook said WakeTogether is a foundational piece of helping the district’s students get caught up academically.
‘Giving back’
After passing the background check and signing a volunteer agreement, tutors will need to make some commitments, including:
▪ Tutor during or after school hours.
▪ Tutor one or two hours a week.
▪ Commit for at least one semester.
▪ Complete an hour virtual child safety training course.
▪ Complete the three-hour virtual HELPS fluency training program.
Volunteers will work with individual students in 20- to 30-minute blocks following a script developed by HELPS. Schools identified second- through fifth-grade students who needed reading help.
John Boyette signed up to become a WakeTogether tutor after having previously worked with students for the Salvation Army.
“When I heard about this program, I wanted to get back in it and help these kids out,” Boyette said in an interview. “I’m retired. I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, and this is my way of giving back.”
Wesley Volkel, 9, a third-grade student at Southeast Raleigh Elementary, told Boyette he wants to make YouTube videos. Boyette reminded Wesley that he needed to work on his reading to make that dream a reality.
“He helps me a lot,” Wesley said of his new tutor.
Cheryl Fenner, the principal of Southeast Raleigh Elementary, said students are excited to work with the tutors.
“We have seen nothing but growth each time that they [students] are working with their volunteers,” she said.
This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 11:43 AM.
