Students Studying | Photo by Soham Parkih | The Wright State Guardian
State education departments collaborated to financially assist students in grades K-12 to recover from learning challenges spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is what this grant money could mean for Wright State University.
Purpose of the grant
According to an Ohio Department of Education release, ODE and the Ohio Department of Higher Education awarded $14 million in mathematics and literacy programs to various colleges and universities across the state. Each grant will facilitate quality tutoring programs for students in K-12.
“We have to make up for that lost ground, and the tutoring work fits in that bucket for us. It’s really how we’re thinking about creating effective opportunities for students to learn,” executive director of Emergency and Secondary School Relief Fund Jana Fornario said.
According to Fornario, tutoring efficacy researchers found that high dosage tutoring is most effective for students. Fornario described some effective tutoring styles.
“Not just every now and then,” Fornario said. “You’re working with the same tutor regularly and repeatedly and in an intentional way.”
Fornario and ODE are most concerned with making learning more impactful for students, but the director also sees this as an opportunity to spark interest in higher education students who may be looking for an entryway towards teaching in the future.
Impact at WSU
According to a WSU press release, Dr. Romena Holbert supervised the grant project for WSU.
Holbert was unavailable for comment.
Tracey Kramer is the university’s director of the Office of Partnerships and Field Experience and a member of the team who compiled the grant proposal, according to the release.
Kramer explained that the grant will not apply during the summer and that the money will be used to pay tutors and purchase materials for the tutoring programs.
According to Kramer, the university will be working with three school districts in the greater Dayton area: West Carrollton Schools, Fairborn City Schools and Huber Heights City Schools.
“We’ve partnered with the University of Dayton. So, University of Dayton is going to serve the Dayton Public Schools, and we’re serving the other three districts,” Kramer clarified.
Although education majors are the main targets of these opportunities, the university is prepared to hire any full time WSU student who is interested in tutoring in one of the three school districts, according to Kramer.
While tutoring within one of the three school districts does not supersede a field placement, Kramer assured that the additional experience for education majors will supplement a candidate’s credentials.
Students interested in applying for a position can find the application on Handshake. More information about the statewide grant can be found on the ODE website.
