Story from Cleveland.com
By John Benson, special to cleveland.com
The need for student interventions last year led to a unique tutoring program in Fairview Park City Schools.
The district partnered with Baldwin Wallace University for High Dosage Tutoring, which included education major students helping elementary school kids with literacy and mathematics three times a week.
“Our end goal was to impact students’ learning gaps that were created through the pandemic and really be able to target their instruction in order to fill those gaps and get them back to where they needed to be,” Gilles-Sweet Elementary School Associate Principal Shanna Kovi said.
Data from last year showed a significant amount of growth. This included 90 percent of targeted English language arts (ELA) students experiencing growth.
“Of those students in ELA, 16 made above-average growth than even the students not receiving intervention,” Kovi said.
“The 91 percent of the students in math made growth, with 12 of the students receiving above-average growth. So High Dosage Tutoring definitely made a significant impact on our students.”
So much so, in fact, that the Ohio Department of Education recently visited the district to learn more about its program, which continued through the summer months with students attending different educational camps at Baldwin Wallace University.
“We’re about to have it start back up,” she said.
High Dosage Tutoring is funded by the Ohio Department of Education through the U.S. Department of Education. The multi-year program received nearly $300,000.
The tutoring pilot program included eight undergraduate teacher candidates working with 11 Gilles-Sweet Elementary School teachers.
“Students at Gilles-Sweet are provided with an engaging, skills-focused learning program through our Baldwin Wallace (University) partnership,” Gilles-Sweet fourth-grade teacher Lisa Sobera said.
“The tutoring program helps improve students’ confidence and self-esteem by giving them the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive environment as they see their skills develop.”
Baldwin Wallace University academics professor Cynthia Dieterich said small group tutoring not only provides academic support, but also a source of social-emotional encouragement.
“Participating in the tutoring program provided me with increased opportunities to teach differentiated lessons to meet the needs of each of my students,” Baldwin Wallace University student tutor Audrey Gerry said.
“I established a strong rapport with my students, which contributed to their academic and social-emotional growth. Additionally, I gained confidence in my abilities as a current and future educator.”