A specific Louisiana tutoring initiative program that was created by Louisiana’s Department of Education in Fall 2020 has not only captured national attention but it’s being used as the country’s standard in the U.S. Department of Education’s latest school reopening guidelines, as told by a press release from Louisiana’s own Department of Education.

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Louisiana Department of Education to close school on March 13, 2020, a lot was left hanging in the balance. As a result, state educational leaders collaborated for months on an initial, comprehensive set of guidelines for reopening schools, which has only become more thorough upon its revisions.

Similarly, the United States Department of Education (ED) releases two volumes of its own “COVID-19 Handbook.” The first volume, which was released to the public this past February, aimed to give faculty and staff members some realistic, practical examples for restarting in-person learning. In addition to this, Volume 1 referenced a large number of strategies for educators to navigate the instructional gap of 4-6 months that was caused by the closing of schools.

In April 2021, ED released the second volume of its handbook; it bore the title: “COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs.” As its main focus can be ascertained by its naming convention, this volume focused on an in-depth analysis of the recovery of lost instructional time caused by the school closures and/or transition to and from virtual learning.

This latest volume will be the framework for the 2021-2022 school year, as it stands right now because it provides a variety of additional strategies for the safe reopening of in-person learning at all American schools as well as the promotion of educational equity or the supplying of individual resources to various students in an effort to have them all succeed and meet a goal. ED plans to address and achieve national educational equity by appropriately addressing the opportunity gaps that lie in the pandemic’s wake, and one of the best ways to address these is through the tactical use of high-quality tutoring to make up for the lost instructional time.

It is in this effort, the provision of high-quality tutoring, that Louisiana’s Department of Education is being used as a national example of a program that’s designed to support teachers and students concurrently. The initiative, called Accelerate, supplies entire school districts with structures, curriculum, presentations, webinars, and educational resources to not only accelerate students’ learning but also keep all instruction aligned to what’s taught in the current school day.

In response to this national attention, State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Cade Brumley said, “it’s reaffirming to see the work we’re doing in Louisiana called out as a strategy schools around the country can use to help children get back on track. Not only is Louisiana a national leader for safely providing in-person instruction, but our students are benefitting from academic strategies proven to move students forward.”

The specific wording of Louisiana’s Accelerate initiative reads as follows in the US Department of Education’s Second Volume: “One example of statewide use of tutoring is being provided by the Louisiana Department of Education, which is encouraging tutoring for all students, recommending that it occur in high-dosages (at least 30 minutes 3 times per week), and providing comprehensive materials aligned to state academic standards through the Accelerate program. In 2007, four studies reviewed by the Department’s What Works Clearinghouse found that peer tutoring had positive effects on English language development for English learners. By contrast, less formal, inconsistent tutoring, that is held in larger groups unconnected with classroom content is unlikely to help students.”

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