Solutions for improving students’ academic achievement don’t have to be complicated.
When the Legislature returns for its short session in January, it will have work ahead of it to resolve K-12 education funding, school levies and other sticky education issues. But one potential solution that ought to get lawmakers’ approval offers a straight-forward program for motivating students, building their learning skills, improving their grades and moving them toward a high school diploma.
Legislation is being drafted for the coming session that would launch a pilot project to establish after-school Learning Labs in each of the 33 middle schools in Snohomish County’s school districts. The proposal is being led by Jan Link, a former teacher and principal who now leads Learning Link, a Kirkland-based nonprofit tutoring center; and Larry Wewel, secretary of Learning Link’s board of directors.
Recognizing the different rates at which students learn and the difficulties some have in completing homework and class assignments, the purpose of the Learning Labs would be to offer after-school tutoring and support for middle school students daily between the end of school and 6 p.m., at each middle school.
Funded through a state Department of Commerce grant of $50,000 for each school, the labs would be run by a director who would oversee volunteers and work with students, parents and teachers regarding each child’s studies. Other than some coordination with a student’s teachers and space to run the labs and access to computers, the legislation requires no funding from individual school districts.
Link has run her own pilot to the pilot as part of her nonprofit. She ran a similar learning lab at an apartment complex two nights a week.
“We started with a small number of kids and made sure they were getting the extra support they needed,” Link said.
Three years later, Link said, those students will be seniors this year and are on the path to diplomas and ready to move on to college. Of 50 kids, only one or two weren’t meeting the lab’s own goal that students earn no D or F grades. And most were getting B grades.
More than completing homework assignments, the Learning Labs can encourage parents’ involvement through email to let them know how the children are doing and help students to become advocates for themselves to know when and how to ask for help, Link said. The students also were getting encouragement as they completed assignments and showed improvement in class.
While the lab directors will be a paid, part-time position, the labs will rely on volunteer tutors, but Link and Wewel believe it won’t be difficult to find volunteers to help staff the labs. Wewel has some experience that applies; he’s the past president for the advisory council of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, which matches volunteers who are 55 and older with programs that need their expertise. They also hope to involve tutors who are students in high school or community college.
Snohomish County’s school districts, representing a range of income levels, offer a good proving ground for the Learning Lab concept. Lawmakers should give the proposal and its funding request serious consideration as a cost-effective investment to give students the extra help they need to learn.
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