National Nonprofit Accelerate Releases Brief to Help K-12 School Districts Fund High-Impact Tutoring for the Long Term

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- National nonprofit Accelerate today released a brief explaining how federal funds can be used to sustain high-impact tutoring programs after federal Covid-19 relief funding expires at the end of September 2024. The brief, titled "Beyond Recovery: Sustaining High-Impact Tutoring for the Long Term," was prepared by Accelerate with technical support from DC-based law and consulting firm Federal Education Group. The brief is designed for K-12 leaders and administrators, especially those responsible for funding in-school programs.

"Tutoring isn't just a short-term response to pandemic-era learning loss — it also has huge potential to close opportunity gaps over the long run," said Dr. Nakia Towns, Chief Program Officer for Accelerate. "It's great that Covid relief funding jump-started some of these efforts, but we can't allow them to stop when that pool of money runs out. To build on our momentum, school administrators need to know two important things: first, which federal grants they're allowed to use for ongoing tutoring programs, and second, how to mix and match funds to continue providing in-school tutoring well into the future."

Studies show tutoring tends to be most effective when it is delivered during the school day, three or more times per week, in alignment with core curriculum, and with close tracking of results. So far, states have collectively spent $4.2 billion in federal Covid-relief aid on tutoring and accelerated learning initiatives. A recent Tyton Partners survey finds that many districts intend to continue investing in tutoring after Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funding expires.

"We have a tendency in the education field to declare an intervention a cure-all and then demand that it solve all our challenges immediately," said Kevin Huffman, CEO at Accelerate. "The research behind high-impact tutoring shows a lot of promise, but like anything else, it's going to take time to see the results play out on a national scale. With the right knowledge and resources, school districts can continue to engage with evidence-backed tutoring providers even when ESSER funding ends, and we're optimistic that it will improve outcomes for kids."

The brief is available for download at https://accelerate.us/beyond-recovery. 

Accelerate is supported by Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin; Arnold Ventures; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Overdeck Family Foundation; and the Walton Family Foundation.

About Accelerate - The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning

Accelerate is a nonprofit organization, incubated and launched by the national nonprofit America Achieves, that seeks to embed high-impact tutoring programs into public schools now and for the long term. Launched in April 2022 with an initial fund of $65 million, Accelerate funds and supports innovation in schools, launches high-quality research, and advances a federal and state policy agenda to support this work.

Accelerate is leading efforts to improve practice on multiple fronts, including as a lead technical assistance partner to the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS). The NPSS is a joint partnership of more than 100 organizations, The Department of Education, AmeriCorps, the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center to launch a new coalition formed to expand high-quality tutoring, mentoring, and other evidence-based support programs, with the goal of ensuring an additional 250,000 adults serve in these roles over the next three years.

Accelerate is supported by Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin; Arnold Ventures; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Overdeck Family Foundation; and the Walton Family Foundation.

For more information, visit http://www.accelerate.us.

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SOURCE Accelerate