Federal stimulus funding may be one aspect of rebuilding the nation. Through a resolution and public statements for a national call to service, we can empower everyday Americans to support one another to accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We encourage President Biden and Congress to issue a National Call to Service through Presidential Proclamation, Congressional Resolution, or other public means with a goal of spurring a large number of tutors and  future educators. 

The National Call to Service will highlight both the demand of tutoring and teaching and the opportunity to stimulate the supply of tutors.

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Student loan forgiveness for graduates who work as tutors.

Increased work-study funding for current post-secondary students to work as tutors.

High-dosage tutoring positions embedded within the school day should count as part of any in-service requirement for teacher candidates. 

The US Department of Education will likely continue to release guidance around use of ARP and other federal funds to address learning loss. While we are proud that research highlighting the success of Saga’s program was included in the April 2021, we would like to see additional guidance include: 

• Guardrails that ensure evidence-based programs are implemented by requiring official documentation of research for funding; 
• Definition of “high-dosage,” “embedded,” etc.;  
• Prioritization of extending the school day to accommodate integration of high-impact tutoring; and,  
• Prioritization of Algebra as one of the top 2 critical instructional areas (including early literacy).
• State and federal education agencies highlight the following frameworks of high-impact tutoring that evidence shows work within their guidelines: 

• Tutoring is provided ideally in groups of 2-3 students; rarely 1:1, and rarely 4+
• The same tutor tutors the group of students throughout the school year
• Tutoring is provided 3-5 times per week, or students receive at least 60-70 hours of personalized tutoring throughout the school year. 
• Tutoring is implemented through the school day and is not not a before or after school program and is supplemental to core academic instruction and not a replacement for core classroom instruction.
• Tutors receive information about pathways into teaching  or incentives that place tutors on a career path into education, including opportunities to earn credits for alternative teaching certification or student loan forgiveness for education programs. 
• Curriculum that aligns with classroom instruction or state grade-level academic standards.
• Tutoring is data-driven, with interim assessments to monitor student progress and inform instructional approaches for students
• Thorough pre-service training.
• Ongoing coaching for tutors, including frequent observation and feedback cycles embedded in their job.
• Tutors can come from many pipelines, including recent grads, mid-career switchers and retirees.  So long as they receive solid pre-service training, and frequent in-service observation and coaching, they need not be trained educators.
• State departments of education must count school/district delivery of high-impact tutoring as qualified instructional time under state time and learning standards (so long as it is embedded into the school day and aligns with the evidence-based framework above).

The American Rescue Plan includes a significant increase in AmeriCorps funding “to respond to communities impacted by COVID-19 such as helping schools safely reopen and tackling the growing hunger crisis.” We have an opportunity to establish tutoring as a priority AmeriCorps program expenditure. 

Saga has a number of priority goals for AmeriCorps, which include:

• Advance and accelerate the timeline for competing for, and granting awards for school-based grantees so they have runway to source talent and get prepared (currently apply in fall, hear late May; change to apply in fall, hear by March); 
• Align AC Segal end of service year award to length of school year–a 1400 hour level (currently levels are 1700 hours or 1200 hours); and, 
• Allow grantees to grow rapidly within their 3-year grant awards so scaling isn’t stalled (grantees currently capped for three years  at first year award level).

Establishing such a commission will promote collaboration as opposed to competition, and could advance further policy priorities around measurement, transparency, outcomes, etc.

This position or team would provide technical assistance to states as they implement tutoring programs. It would also track data and outcomes, working as necessary with IES and other parts of ED.

Facilitate opportunities for state leaders (e.g., Governors, State Departments of Education) to share best practices, implementation approaches, and any available economies of scale in the administration of tutoring programs at the state and local levels.