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During Wednesday’s Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
meeting, several school superintendents provided updates on
methods being used to address learning loss.
Last fall, ISBE reported drops of 17% and 18%, respectively, in
the number of students achieving grade-level standards in
English and math between 2019 and 2021.
Unity Point School District 140 Superintendent Lori James-Gross
said the pandemic and remote learning affected the younger
grades more than others.
“We too, coming out of the pandemic, realized that the students
that were most profoundly impacted by the pandemic were our most
vulnerable students, specifically our pre-K and kindergarten
students and families,” James-Gross said.
Paris Union School District 95 Superintendent Jeremy Larson said
his district has partnered with Illinois State University on a
high-impact tutoring program. Larson has recruited individuals
from the Paris area to tutor 125 students. The tutoring pool
includes college students, student teachers and parents.
“We see this is as a great way not only to increase our
students' learning but also to increase the labor force in our
own community,” Larson said.
Federal funding for the tutoring Initiative was released in fall
2021, and tutors began working in some schools the following
March. The program allows tutors to meet one-on-one or with
small groups of students in one-hour blocks several times a
week.
Officials say interim assessments will be used to get a sense of
where students are today and help guide instruction for those
students in the future as the recovery continues.
Last March, ISBE announced a $17 million grant to create the
nation’s first state-funded Freedom Schools network. Officials
said the grant aims to close the opportunity gap and learning
loss experienced by low-income students caused by the pandemic.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois
for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio
news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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