3-20-2024 4:41pm

New Jersey Bolsters Academic Recovery with $7 Million in Tutoring Grants

Second Wave of Funding Aims to Elevate Student Learning Across the State, Return to Pre-Pandemic Scores.

MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY – In an ambitious move to support academic recovery, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has unveiled a $7 million initiative aimed at enhancing student performance through High Impact Tutoring. This latest round of funding, benefiting 57 school districts and charter schools, marks a significant push towards employing evidence-based educational strategies for learning acceleration.

The initiative empowers recipient institutions to collaborate with educational service providers, nonprofits, and higher education entities, fostering a network of support aimed at academic excellence. Furthermore, schools are encouraged to leverage their existing personnel to extend tutoring services beyond traditional classroom settings.

This announcement follows a November declaration that saw $41 million allocated to roughly 240 schools in the initiative's inaugural round. Kevin Dehmer, Acting Commissioner of Education, emphasized the grants' role in facilitating educational advancement.

"These High Impact Tutoring grants give our schools access to a powerful tool that can accelerate learning for students throughout New Jersey," Dehmer stated, highlighting the program's foundation on proven educational methodologies.

Success stories from the program's first beneficiaries underscore its impact. Franklin Township in Somerset County has launched a diverse tutoring scheme, yielding a notable uptick in student performance, including a 6% improvement in English Language Arts and a 13% increase in Math.

Similarly, Bergenfield Public School District in Bergen County used its grant award to implement 30 high-impact small tutoring groups, with each student group receiving 36 instructional tutoring sessions. After the first cycle, almost all students showed gains in both English Language Arts and Math, with many students closing learning gaps as large as one year’s growth.

The second funding round, totaling $7,075,627, is partly financed by the federal American Rescue Plan, underscoring a commitment to research-driven educational practices. These practices include regular, intensive tutoring sessions tailored to individual or small group needs, alignment with state standards, and data-informed instruction delivered by qualified tutors in close collaboration with classroom teachers.

Among the Morris County recipients, Roxbury Township is poised to implement or enhance High Impact Tutoring with the grant. This round of funding promises to further educational equity and excellence across New Jersey, providing a template for the successful integration of tutoring into mainstream education strategies.

With a focus on closing the learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic, the NJDOE's initiative represents a forward-thinking approach to educational recovery, setting a benchmark for other states to follow to ensure every student reaches their full academic potential.