In Los Angeles, California, a group of determined parents embarked on a transformative journey to ensure their children received the educational support they deserved. Innovate Public Schools, an organization dedicated to empowering families for educational advocacy, became the catalyst for change when parent leaders came together to build a common understanding and advocacy campaign for high-impact tutoring.
Their mission was clear: to make high-impact tutoring accessible to all students, not just the small number of students that schools in the community had enrolled. The existing tutoring programs were either inaccessible or inadequate, leaving many children and communities at a disadvantage. The pandemic only exacerbated these challenges, with remote learning creating further gaps in educational equity.
3 ways Innovate Public Schools Parent Leaders Organize and Advocate
LISTEN
Meet 1:1 with other parents and talk about their children’s learning experiences
Gather and ask parents what they want support for their students to look like
Hold online and in-person meetings to keep growing their parent community
LEARN
Research strategies (e.g., high-impact tutoring)
Develop materials to explain what high-impact tutoring is
Meet with researchers, tutoring providers, and district and city leaders to learn and identify what is possible
ACT
Ask schools how to access high-impact tutoring
Ask local mayors to fund a high-impact tutoring program
Ask district leaders to scale high-impact tutoring to reach more students
High Quality Tutoring I think is perfect for a student, because you have a relationship, a connection. The teacher interacts and sometimes even motivates the student… they feel confident.
Undeterred, Innovate parent leaders sought solutions beyond the limitations of the school district. Recognizing that some of the tutoring opportunities for students were really homework help, drop-in tutoring, or had student groups that were too large, they researched and shared a clear definition of high-impact tutoring across their communities. Using Innovate’s organizing model (outlined in the graphic to the right), parent leaders met with dozens of community, district, and city leaders and experts to identify potential opportunities to fund and scale a tutoring program. They met city mayors from Huntington Park and South Gate and were able to persuade the cities to use their recovery funds to invest in high-impact tutoring.
With the infusion of $200,000 from two supportive mayors, they launched a pilot tutoring program that embodied their vision: small group sessions, frequent meetings, and continuous assessment to track progress. The success of the pilot program was undeniable, with students experiencing academic and social-emotional benefits from participating in high-impact tutoring. Parents could see and celebrate improvements their children experienced in their academic performance.
The parent leaders have now moved their advocacy efforts forward within their local district and schools. They continue to work to secure greater access to high-impact tutoring, sharing the transformative experiences their children experienced in the pilot tutoring program.
For more information: Read Southeast LA Parent Leaders help launch regional tutoring initiative.
