Use of tutors skyrockets in Guilford

Guy Lucas, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Jan. 27—GUILFORD COUNTY — The expansion of Guilford County Schools' high-dose tutoring program has more than tripled the number of students making use of it, and the total hours devoted to tutoring is more than five times higher than last year, the school system superintendent said.

Superintendent Whitney Oakley included the numbers Thursday in a presentation to the Guilford County Board of Education about community feedback she has received over the past several months in town halls and other community meetings she has held to discuss the performance and future of the school system. Among the feedback has been positive support for the district's efforts to help students make up for academic ground lost during the COVID-19 pandemic's lack of in-person classes.

"People are taking advantage of the learning recovering efforts," she said.

GCS expanded the tutoring program, which is mostly one-on-one tutoring, for the 2022-23 school year with an infusion of $2 million in federal money to hire more tutors. As a result, the number of students served went up from 2,080 in the first half of the 2021-22 school year to 7,518 in the same period of 2022-23, an increase of 261%.

The number of tutoring sessions increased from 21,009 to 122,600 — up 464% — and the combined hours of tutoring went from 12,695 to 63,758, up 402%.

Oakley said GCS is hiring more tutors — ranging from high school students to retired teachers — every month. Students at risk of failing in a subject are prioritized for help.

The learning hubs program in the high schools allowing extra study time with teachers after school did not expand but has seen sharply higher participation: from 2,654 students to 5,418, up 104%.

GCS figures from last summer showed that students who took advantage of the learning hubs had a graduation rate six percentage points higher than those who didn't.

The funding for these programs so far comes from sources that expire in 2024, mainly COVID-19 relief funding. Oakley said GCS is exploring other possibilities to continue the programs, which fall under one of the five top priorities emerging for the new strategic plan that GCS is developing.