Wake schools plans after-school math tutoring, other interventions for struggling students

The district will need make some new hires for its latest pandemic learning recovery efforts.

Posted 9:20 p.m. Mar 14, 2023 — Updated 9:26 p.m. Mar 14, 2023

Emily Walkenhorst

, WRAL education reporter

Some middle school students in the Wake County Public School System will soon have access to after-school tutoring, either at their school or at a community agency.

The school system presented the new program to the Board of Education’s student achievement committee Tuesday.

School systems in North Carolina and across the country have been using federal pandemic stimulus dollars to provide tutoring and other interventions to speed up the pace of student learning after remote learning and pandemic stresses slowed down that pace over the past three years.

Test scores declined last spring from pre-pandemic levels, including in math. State officials have estimated learning recovery will take a few more years still.

Wake County’s new effort will begin in April or May, but only for a “small number” of schools to start with, according to Drew Cook, district assistant superintendent for academics.

Student eligibility for this program and others hasn’t been finalized yet. Cook noted the district has to balance its capacity to offer a program with student need.

Board Member Monika Johnson-Hostler said so many parents talk with her about wanting their children to enroll in summer school, though they don’t meet the criteria.

“People are really concerned” about accelerating their children’s learning, she said.

The district hopes to expand the program, but that will come down to staff availability, Cook said.

Any location that wants to offer the tutoring support – whether school or community agency – will need to hire staff and arrange transportation.

But a worsening bus driver shortage and existing demands on math teachers may prevent some schools from offering it, Cook said.

“You can and probably will end up with some schools being able to offer a program like this and some that will not be able to, to put it bluntly,” Cook said.

It’s the first math-specific tutoring program using federal pandemic stimulus funds offered by the school system. The district has two in-school tutoring programs for reading covering kindergarten through fifth grades that started in 2022.

The district is offering two new summer programs this year focus on learning interventions, as well.

On The Rise will be for incoming 6th and 9th graders who have established academic needs or plans. It will focus on remedial math and reading, while also previewing 6th and 9th grade reading and math to prepare those students for their new schools.

Navigating New Environments will be for students entering the 4th and 5th grades who need “comprehensive” English-language instruction.

Wake school board reviewing math curriculum, digital textbooks

The district is also offering its usual summer reading camp for second and third graders and credit recovery for high schoolers, another year End-of-Grade and End-of-Course retaking, and the second iteration of Power Scholars for eligible elementary school students.

Power Scholars is done through partnership with the YMCA, and the district is looking to expand it to one or two more sites this summer. It runs five to six weeks and focuses on math and reading. It was at Poe and Bugg elementary schools last summer.

The district offers other summer programs for supplemental or advanced learning, such as Wake Learns for high-achieving third-graders, Career Accelerator for high school students, and the new NC School of Science and Math Summer Learning program, which is a week-long camp at the state school’s Morganton campus.

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