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The Near North District School Board (NNDSB) is putting provincial funding to work by initiating small groups and individual tutoring for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Funding comes from the province’s Plan to Catch Up, an initiative from the Ministry of Education.
Plan to Catch Up is intended to “close gaps caused by the disruptions of COVID-19,” the board’s communications officer, Deb Bartlett, summarized. Funding for the tutoring will be in place until March 31, 2023.
“All NNDSB schools have been invited to access funding to either initiate or extend opportunities to engage students impacted by learning disruptions,” Bartlett added.
To get things underway, the board has cooked up a three-pronged approach to tutoring. The board has recruited educators to facilitate before- and after-school tutoring programs in all regions of the board. The “Teacher Tutors” have participated in training sessions, the board outlined. Tutoring will take place in person with virtual help available when necessary. The average group size will be between two and five, “although groups up to 12 may be accommodated,” and individual tutoring is also possible.
Prong two: the board has entered a partnership with LEARNstyle to help students between grades 7–10 who struggle with reading. Students will meet one on one with tutors—“reading intervention coaches,” the board details—to work through lessons to improve their literacy skills. Each student will be assessed on their skills before and after the tutoring program.
The third and final prong of this tutoring trifecta involves recruiting, hiring, and training post-secondary students to work with the students needing help. These would be small group sessions most likely led by students attending the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University. This past spring, the board hired 32 education students to help with tutoring programs and that worked well.
Director of Education Craig Myles noted how “recruiting and training Nipissing students has provided valuable support to students while they’re at school supplementing the work of classroom teachers.”
Overall, the provincial funding will help many students to catch up on their academics, and “this funding will enable staff to support even the youngest learners if they need extra help,” Board of Trustees Chari Erika Lougheed said.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
