PA Tutoring Funds FAQs
Students in my school district would benefit from a well-run tutoring program, how can we fund it?
The Pennsylvania Department of Education offers three main funding sources for tutoring programs: ClassroomPlus, Educational Assistance Program (EAP,) and Supplemental Education Services (SES.)
What is ClassroomPlus?
This is a $500 grant for individual families that covers the cost of tutoring for students who have performed in the 49th percentile or below on the PSSA or another PDE-approved test. Schools can partner with the Learning Lamp to offer small group tutoring immediately after school or during the summer. We design the program and track the data, but hire your certified teachers to conduct tutoring sessions. ClassroomPlus is a great way for districts to augment existing tutoring programs. This funding is available to students in all 501 school districts in Pennsylvania.
What is the Educational Assistance Program (EAP)?
The enacted 2004-2005 Budget provides $38 million, an additional $13 million or 52 percent increase, for the Educational Assistance Program. Funding is provided to eligible school districts with the most severe academic challenges. These school districts have at least one building that did not make school-wide Adequate Yearly Progress targets in reading or math. In these districts, students are eligible for tutoring if they are:
- In grades K-3 and are below the standard
- In grade 4 and scored below proficient on the grade 3 PSSA
- In grade 6 and scored below proficient on the grade 5 PSSA
- In grade 9 and scored below proficient on the grade 8 PSSA
If your district fits the criteria, you may apply for funds through the eGrants link on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website: www.pde.state.pa.us.
What are Supplemental Education Services?
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) fall under Section 1116 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, P.L. 107-110. SES provides extra academic assistance for low-income students who are attending Title I Schools that have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for three or more years. The Learning Lamp is a Pennsylvania Department of Education-approved SES provider, and will work with families in your district to provide quality, content-driven tutoring sessions on a mobile basis. Our tutoring program is designed to reinforce lessons taught in the classroom, close skill gaps and enhance student performance on standardized tests.
Is there any other way my district can fund tutoring?
Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, Pennsylvania Accountability Grants will be established by the Department of Education for use by school districts to attain and improve academic performance targets. The 2004-2005 enacted Budget provides $200,000,000 for the Pennsylvania Accountability Grants, an increase of $25,000,000 over the amount initially provided in Section 2599.2 of the "Pennsylvania Public School Code." This level of funding is also proposed for the 2005-2006 school year.
School districts can use Accountability Block Grants to start or expand tutoring programs. Grant guidelines are announced on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website in March, and school districts can apply for funding in April and May. Funding amounts are determined by a set formula:
- 75% of allocated funding comes from the percentage of students scoring below proficiency on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test as a way to target students who need the extra assistance the most.
- 25% of allocated funding comes from the percentage of students scoring proficient or above on the PSSA in an effort to maintain the achievement of those students.
For more information, log onto www.pde.state.pa.us and click on “Accountability Block Grants.”
My district can’t fund a tutoring program, but we’d still like to have one. Are there other options available to us?
School districts across the nation have developed successful volunteer tutoring programs with the help of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS.) CNCS funds the AmeriCorps and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. They also provide free resources for volunteer tutoring programs, including training videos and materials, tutor handbooks and support materials for tutoring program coordinators. For more information, log onto www.nationalservice.org. Additional resources for volunteer tutoring programs are available from the Northwest Education Research Laboratory. Most resources are free, and can be downloaded from their website: www.nwrel.org.
Questions? Call the Learning Lamp at (814) 262-0732
All information excerpted from the Pennsylvania Department of Education website: www.pde.state.pa.us-Diana, Mom from Windber
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