Following the COVID-19 pandemic, students all over the country suffered in their academic progress, and those at Clairton City School District were no exception. With evidence that tutoring could make a real difference for these students, but lacking staff to provide such intensive services, the Eden Hall Foundation, with the Consortium as its partner, decided to take a different approach.
Initial plans for the Partners in Learning program were to connect college students with elementary teachers so that the teachers could spend time with students who were struggling academically while the college students could continue with the rest of the class. However, because of Clairton’s location and lack of public transportation, college students found it difficult to say yes to the opportunity for a real-world experience.
That’s when the Consortium decided to take a different approach, with the intent to find a sustainable model that complements the specific needs and strengths of the educators and students in Clairton. After many conversations, the result was a collaboration with Auberle’s Employment Institute, a program that is funded by Partner4Work. To start, the team placed high school juniors and seniors into three first-grade classrooms at Clairton Elementary as Learning Partners.
Learning Partners worked alongside classroom teachers to assist students with classroom activities, lead small group instruction, provide homework help, and support students who are on track to keep moving forward, while teachers spent time focusing on students who needed targeted assistance with specific knowledge and skills. Learning Partners were paid for their work through The Employment Institute.
The new model was an overwhelming success. High school students were able to contribute meaningfully to the learning experience of younger students, foster a broader sense of community in the district, and even get a sense of what it might be like to be an educator.
Classroom teachers were impressed with the high school students and the contributions they made to their classrooms, including their impact on the younger students’ classroom behavior and academic engagement. And younger students were enthusiastic about having the older students in their classrooms and looked forward to working with them.
Plans for the 2024-2025 school year include expanding the program to include both first- and second-grade classrooms in Clairton City and providing opportunities for a pre-apprenticeship or dual-enrollment program to further benefit participating high school students.
