Dear parents, caregivers, and families,
Like you, we are concerned about ensuring our children feel cherished, affirmed, and prepared for a lifetime of opportunity and choice. We believe the education system was not designed to serve all children, and the biggest barrier to having access to an excellent school is a lack of political will to improve the system. The voices and experiences of parents, families, and students should be elevated and centered in decisions about education.
Innovate organizes thousands of parents throughout California. As representatives of the Innovate Statewide Parent Leader Board, we are united in working to improve education for Black and Latino students, English learners, and students with learning differences. Our goal is to create more opportunities for our kids to be successful in school and in the community across the state and nation.
Students across the nation are falling behind and many are not prepared to enroll and succeed in college. In 2022, only 33% of fourth graders in the United States were proficient in reading, and only 36% were proficient in math. And only 31% of eighth graders were proficient in reading, and 26% were proficient in math.1 It is imperative we take action now to help students recover from learning loss and thrive.
High-impact tutoring is a powerful strategy that can help students recover academically and thrive. As parent leaders in California, we have successfully advocated for and partnered with our local city governments and school districts to fund and scale high-impact tutoring. Our goal with this toolkit is for more parents to use their leadership to advocate for their student’s and all students' needs.
This toolkit was created specifically for you to equip you with the resources needed to: 1) understand how high-impact tutoring can help students recover and thrive, 2) contribute to your child’s success in school, and 3) empower yourself and other families to advocate for high-impact tutoring.
Our vision is to see all students succeed academically, socially, and emotionally so that they can realize their goals and dreams.
In the spirit of transformation,
Innovate Parent Leaders from California
1 NAEP Report Cards: Reading and Mathematics, Overall NAEP Achievement Levels, Grades 4 and 8, 2022.