RICHMOND, Va. -- The bright spots of William Hewlett's week include tutoring time with his grandkids, who attend school in Chesterfield County.
He loves reading them books and going over math equations, even if it's not their favorite thing to do.
“They don't like math too much. They don't like reading too much. I said, ‘Well, how are you going to survive if you can't read and write, and you can't count?” Hewlett said. “I just love to see their minds work.”
But since the pandemic, Hewlett said he's been worried about their educational progress.
He cited the changes brought on by COVID-19, the adjustments of virtual school and the return to in-person learning, and the increased safety concerns within schools as factors that have impacted their education.
“From what I’ve noticed, they're very weak a little bit in reading and math. It’s just kind of challenging to them, but they need reinforcements," Hewlett said.
After another year of Standards of Learning test scores that showed minimal improvements in student achievement, Governor Youngkin launched the "All In" initiative, which he hoped would combat pandemic learning loss.
Youngkin said school districts would receive $418 million in total funds for the effort. Guidance from the state suggests school districts use 70% of 'All In' funds for tutoring, 20% to expand the Virginia Literacy Act, and 10% to combat chronic absenteeism.
On September 7, during a press conference to announce the campaign, Youngkin presented an ambitious challenge to Virginia school districts and gave them less than six weeks to meet it.
“To get high-intensity tutoring programs up and running by Monday, October the 16th," Youngkin said.
According to guidance from Youngkin's Department of Education, those high-intensity tutoring programs should look like:
- A ratio of one tutor to 10 children, though research shows high-dosage tutoring is most effective with a 1:3-5 ratio
- For every student who failed or was at risk of failing math or reading
- For 3-5 hours of tutoring per week
- For either a total of 18 or 36 weeks
- And should happen either before, during, or after the school day
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) launched a volunteer sign-up sheet for community members or retired education professionals willing to participate in the program.
However, some parents expressed concern over whether schools could pull off the effort given teacher shortages.
“They don't have teachers in the classrooms. We need to get them in the school building in order to get this tutoring in the first place," said Becca DuVal, whose daughter's middle school in Richmond currently has six classrooms without a permanent teacher.
The VDOE's playbook provided to school districts on how to implement the programming stated, "School divisions should use the information from this playbook to implement tutoring by October 16, 2023.”
According to VDOE spokesperson Todd Reid, 28 out of 131 school divisions (21% of districts) submitted a spending plan to the state by October 16, including Hanover Schools and Chesterfield Schools.
The Virginia Education Association, a union that represents teachers, called that timeline "delusional," citing staffing as the biggest barrier to implementing high-dosage tutoring.
"It’s no surprise that less than 30 of the 131 school divisions in Virginia have submitted spending plans for the tutoring programs proposed in Governor Youngkin’s “All IN VA” program six weeks after it was announced. With schools already struggling to find teachers and other staff, and with current staff members remaining underpaid and overworked, where were the resources for intensive tutoring programs supposed to come from?" said VEA president James Fedderman.
Here are the plans from local districts across Central Virginia:
HANOVER
Hanover will receive $3.6 million from the state for the 'All In' initiative. Hanover plans to use those funds to hire additional staff ($30 per hour for licensed tutors/$18 per hour for non-licensed tutors) to support existing tutoring programs. Hanover also plans to utilize teachers during their planning periods and retirees.
Additionally, Hanover Schools will use the funding to purchase technology for digital resources.
"The division is providing support for each school to assess its current tutoring and intervention approaches, determine what additional resources will be necessary to meet our goals and identify new staff to carry out the tutoring. We are awaiting more information on the digital resources available through the state and plan to utilize these as part of our program," said Hanover Schools spokesperson Chris Whitley. "The additional funds will enhance the work that we have done in the past and have already begun this year."
Hanover's spending plan states it will afford every student who failed or was at risk of failing math or reading access to tutoring opportunities, using the VDOE's guidelines.
CHESTERFIELD
Chesterfield Schools will receive $22 million from the state. According to its spending plan, 70% of the district's 60,000+ students are "poised to benefit from additional tutoring."
Chesterfield plans to use those funds to employ tutoring coaches at each of its 53 schools. As those efforts are underway, Chesterfield will give 500 employees stipends of $5,000. An additional 53 building leads will receive stipends of $2,000 to serve as schoolwide monitors of tutoring efforts.
Due to limited minutes and teacher capacity, Chesterfield Schools will also use funds to expand its existing online tutoring service to third through fifth graders. Currently, it serves sixth through eighth graders.
HENRICO
Henrico Schools has not yet submitted a spending plan to the state. However, district spokesperson Eileen Cox said the 'All In' program will not change much about the division's current tutoring efforts.
"HCPS has always offered - and is currently offering - tutoring programs aimed at remediation and acceleration within our schools. Although tutoring is underway across the division, the “All In” recommendations are being used to increase student opportunities," Cox said. "You will note that the state initiative focuses on elementary and middle school students; however, HCPS has ongoing academic tutoring, remediation, and enrichment for students in all grades K-12."
Cox added that teachers are the most qualified to deliver tutoring in their classrooms, and the district expects to hire a "small number of additional tutors."
As far as how funding was determined, Cox noted that VDOE only provided school districts with the official calculation tool on October 12, two business days before the target launch date of October 16.
"In Henrico, once the funds are allocated, they pass through the County government to the school division. As you might imagine, this takes some time. However, instead of waiting for the funds to arrive, tutoring is underway and individual schools are identifying any additional students who may benefit from participation," Cox said.
Cox said the district will submit a spending plan once individual school leaders have had a chance to assess their specific needs.
RICHMOND
Richmond Schools has not yet submitted a spending plan to the state, and the district has released limited information about its plan.
A member of the Richmond School Board, Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed, asked Superintendent Jason Kamras about it during an October 16 school board meeting.
"Do you anticipate you will hire additional staff to address what the 'All In' is asking from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction?" Harris-Muhammed asked.
"I'm hesitant to bring before you additional positions given that we're trying to prepare for the "cliff" (the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds). I do think one of the things that our school leaders have appreciated, they've shared this with me during our one-on-ones this fall, is having funds for incentives. They've done a lot of celebrations for our young people who are coming to school every day and incentivizing others. I think these funds would be a great opportunity for our school leaders to enhance those opportunities and give them full autonomy as they see fit to best meet the attendance needs of their schools," Kamras said.
VDOE
Though the governor and VDOE repeatedly stated schools should launch tutoring programs by October 16, VDOE spokesperson Todd Reid said that was not a deadline.
"To provide local flexibility, there is no specified due date for the ALL In spending plan to be submitted to VDOE," Reid said. "School divisions will begin receiving recurring payments from their ALL In funding allocation once they have submitted their spending plan and it’s been approved by the State Superintendent."
Reid continued, "VDOE continues to support school divisions as they complete their plans and launch their programs, beginning programming as soon as possible."
Hewlett said he supported the initiative and hopes participating students continue the program all the way through.
"Their attention spans are not that long. So you really have to find new unique ways to be creative in teaching them math and teaching them English so that they always remember it," Hewlett said.
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