RICHMOND, Va. -- Governor Glenn Youngkin has challenged local school districts across the state to implement high-intensity tutoring programs in response to unimpressive Standards of Learning test scores, and he gave them just over five weeks to do it.
With the governor's October 16 deadline for districts to have programming in place arriving within about two weeks, CBS 6 reached out to Central Virginia school divisions to find out if they were on track to meet the state's expectations. None appeared to have solidified plans yet on how to implement the state's recommendations.
On September 7, Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released the results of the 2022-2023 SOL tests, after delaying the release by weeks, and they showed minimal growth.
On average, Virginia students did not grow in reading or writing and slightly declined in history compared to the previous school year. However, they made improvements in math and science.
Education leaders said that half of Virginia's third through eighth-grade students were at risk or failed reading. Two-thirds of the same group were at risk or failed math.
Youngkin continued to blame the results on pandemic learning loss and the impact of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an effort to combat learning loss, he also launched the "All In VA" campaign, which included directing a total of $418 million in state funding to local school divisions to implement high-dosage tutoring, promote literacy, and address chronic absenteeism. The governor recommended divisions take a majority of that funding to create tutoring programs.
"I do have high hopes because we absolutely need all the extra resources we can get," said Richmond Public Schools parent and local school board blogger Becca DuVal. "These kids have never been further behind."
While DuVal said she hoped to see the plan succeed, she became skeptical after VDOE posted its resources and guidelines online . They include a sign-up sheet that solicits community members to become volunteer tutors as part of the program.
In his initial announcement, the governor said he was calling on existing teachers, retired teachers, trained tutors, and pastors to get involved. However, DuVal said it felt like, “a tutor army of private citizens just hoping that they can cosplay as teachers for a while."
According to the VDOE's tutoring playbook, any new tutors such as aspiring teachers, paraprofessionals, or community members would have to go through a "significant amount of training" in order to be successful. Licensed teachers and retired teachers would require "less training upfront and less intensive ongoing support."
The guidance states that school divisions will be tasked with developing a tutor training plan once they've identified participating staff/volunteers. New tutors will be required to go through an online "All In" training course.
DuVal said she was concerned that districts may not be able to find enough tutors in time, considering in her district, multiple schools are still grappling with teacher vacancies, according to a September report to the Richmond School Board.
At her daughter's Richmond middle school, for example, six classrooms don't have a permanent teacher.
“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," DuVal said. “We have a record number of provisional teachers. The long-term subs-- they haven't yet taken their teacher certification tests.”
Across Virginia, a recent report by the state legislature's watchdog agency JLARC found that 4.8% of teaching positions were vacant at the start of the 2023-2024 school year, an increase from 3.9% the prior year. It also revealed that 16% of the state's teachers were not fully licensed, a 2% increase from the prior year.
VDOE has acknowledged that effective high-intensity tutoring would typically involve a ratio of one tutor to three to five students. However, VDOE's model recommends one tutor to ten students "because research also shows that it takes time to build a strong tutor pool," according to the playbook.
The state has recommended that students who failed their reading or math SOL tests receive tutoring of 3-5 hours per week for 36 weeks. Students who scored "low proficient" should receive 3-5 hours per week for 18 weeks.
CBS 6 reached out to the Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, and Richmond school districts to ask if they're on track to have tutoring programming in place by the October 16 deadline, how they will find staff and volunteers, and how will they spend their allocated funding.
Here's how each district responded:
CHESTERFIELD:
Chesterfield Schools spokesperson Shawn Smith said he did not know yet how much money the district will receive and if there will be any restrictions placed on how the funds can be spent.
"We continue to work to address learning through multiple avenues, including robust tutoring opportunities already in place for students through existing programs. Our staff has reviewed the All In Tutoring playbook from the Virginia Department of Education, and we are working to develop a plan based on the recommendations," Smith said.
HANOVER:
Hanover Schools spokesperson Chris Whitley said the district will receive $3.6 million to support "All In" implementation. He said the district is still reviewing the governor's spending recommendations to ensure it aligns with Hanover's existing comprehensive plan to improve literacy and attendance and address pandemic learning loss.
"Our instructional and human resources teams will be working diligently to help find staff and volunteers for this tutoring initiative. We expect to have plans in place for each of our schools by mid-October with the implementation of those plans to follow, likely in stages," Whitley said.
HENRICO:
Henrico Public Schools will receive $17.5 million in funding for the "All In" program, but a district spokesperson said he did not have substantial information to share.
"We are working to develop and implement our plan per the guidelines, but this is still in progress," said Henrico Schools spokesperson Ken Blackstone.
RICHMOND:
According to a newsletter written by Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, the district will receive $9.5 million in funding for the program.
However, district spokesperson Matthew Stanley told CBS 6 that RPS was "still in planning mode."
"We look forward to sharing more information in the coming weeks and will be happy to answer additional questions then," Stanley said.
VDOE spokesperson Todd Reid said State Superintendent Dr. Lisa Coons has met with superintendents across the Commonwealth and "has encouraged them to meet the governor’s challenge."
"The Department has provided and continues to provide multiple sessions, conversations, and resources to assist school divisions with the resources they need to launch their programs by October 16," Reid said.
Upon the announcement of the 'All In' plan, the teacher's union Virginia Education Association released a statement that said while teachers realize high-dosage is effective, staffing has been the biggest barrier in implementation. VEA said the October 16 deadline was delusional.
"This expectation without adequate resources is delusional and just a soundbite for [the governor]. School divisions deserve ongoing funding and a real plan to address the main barrier to implementing high-dosage tutoring and the Virginia Literacy Act, which is staffing," the statement said.
While DuVal said she supports the idea behind the plan, she still has questions about the future execution.
"It is a very great, important thing for us to be considering. Education is so important. I do not discount the intentions of the people who crafted this plan," DuVal said. “But you can't just throw it out in a press release and then hope that it materializes in a few weeks' time.”
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