Lake Erie College Receives Statewide Tutoring Grant
The Lake Erie College School of Education has just received full funding for their Statewide Tutoring Grant Proposal in the amount of $499,857. This partnership grant brings the School of Education together with four local school districts: Painesville City Local Schools, Fairport Harbor School District; Kirtland School District and Summit Academy in Painesville. The School of Education will also partner with the Kent-Geauga Middle Childhood Licensure program for their teacher candidates to serve as tutors.
The tutoring program spans two academic years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. Parents in the partner districts will receive more information about enrolling their children in the tutoring program at the beginning of the upcoming school year in August.
The tutoring program provides high-dosage tutoring services every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for K-5th grade students. Teacher candidates from Lake Erie College and Kent-Geauga receive math recovery training to prepare for their tutoring sessions and curriculum. Each partner district has a math curriculum liaison that works with the project director to ensure the content taught in the tutoring sessions aligns with district goals.
“At Summit Academy Community School, Painesville, we have a high transient and special needs population, often coming from families with low socio-economic status,” said Kelly Cunningham, Dean of Students at Summit Academy, Painesville. “We will use the mathematics tutoring grant to provide our students and families with free and sustainable opportunities for academic growth. Additionally, we look forward to the reciprocal partnership with Lake Erie College Department of Education students as tutors and mentors.”
According to the Ohio Department of Education, these federally supported COVID-19 relief grants focus on providing direct services for Ohio students who experienced greater disruptions to learning and did not engage consistently in school during the pandemic. Research shows frequent and consistent tutoring results in increased achievement. Grants were awarded to two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities with teacher preparation and education programs. Participating college students may benefit from direct field experience, community service and additional incentives such as stipends and course credits.
“We are so excited to be partnering with Lake Erie College for this exciting opportunity,” Heidi Elmore, Principal of McKinley Elementary School in Fairport Harbor said. “Fairport Harbor is a small community that prides itself on making these valuable connections that support the teaching and learning at McKinley Elementary School. Through this partnership, we will be able to provide our students the support they need to continue to make progress towards reaching their goals. We are so lucky to be in such close proximity to this amazing college that looks for these opportunities and engages the local schools in their initiatives.”
Dr. Katharine Delavan, the Dean of the School of Education at Lake Erie College is “grateful for the opportunity to train our teacher candidates in Math Recovery and provide them with extensive real-world learning and teaching experiences that will strengthen their knowledge and skills. We are also excited to have four district partners to strengthen relationships with and support their K-5 students with their math development.”