$5 million investment in math tutoring to help close learning gaps

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OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) announced this week that it is investing approximately $5 million in federal relief funding to build a Math Tutoring Corps. The high-dosage tutoring initiative will help close pandemic-related gaps in math learning and algebra readiness for up to 1,500 Oklahoma sevenththrough ninth-grade students a year.

“The disruptions in learning and trauma associated with the pandemic exacted a serious academic toll,” said Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “In Oklahoma, as in many other states, educators are grappling with unfinished learning across all subjects, but the area most significantly impacted appears to be mathematics. The Math Tutoring Corps can reverse learning loss among the most severely impacted students.”

Up to 1,500 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students can participate in the Math Tutoring Corps on the basis of local and state assessment data. As many as 500 teachers and college students will serve as tutors, each working with no more than three students. All tutoring will take place virtually in three sessions per week outside of school hours. Students without access to hardware or broadband will be provided them at no cost.

In recent weeks, the OSDE has been recruiting tutors and expects to begin training them in December. Tutoring will begin in January 2022. All tutors will be paid for training and tutoring. Educators selected as tutors will receive $50 per hour for training and tutoring, while college students will be paid $25 an hour.

The Math Tutoring Corps initiative will be funded through the summer of 2024 and is a component of Ready Together Oklahoma: An Action Plan for Supporting Students Through the Pandemic and Beyond. The OSDE launched the recovery plan in May with a growing portfolio of online resources to support schools as they leverage the best uses of federal relief funds.