A group of families reached a settlement with the Los Angeles Unified School District as part of a class action lawsuit that claims the district’s distance learning practices during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic were inadequate and discriminated against Black and Latino students, as well as those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The settlement, which still needs court approval, is one of the largest ever to come from an education class action lawsuit and will grant more than 100,000 students access to 45 hours of high-dose tutoring each year, amounting to more than 10 million hours in the next three academic years.
“It’s a lot further from the study halls we all knew and grew up with,” said Ned Hillenbrand, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which represented the parents pro bono. “It’s 30 minutes at a time, small group, tied directly to curriculum, tied directly to what’s covered in assessment. … We’re hoping for great results from that.”
LAUSD declined to comment on the settlement or to answer questions about specific plans for implementation. While the district has not disclosed how it will fund the tutors, Gov. Gavin Newsom added $378 million in each of the three years, starting 2025-26, to the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant program, in addition to the $1 billion yet to be spent; tutoring is one of the recommended uses.
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The road ahead
While various stakeholders are celebrating the settlement’s outcome, there is still work to be done to ensure students receive adequate academic support.
When done properly, high-impact tutoring is one of the most researched and effective learning interventions, according to Kathy Bendheim, the strategic advising director for the Stanford Graduate School of Education’s National Student Support Accelerator. And there is research indicating that it can help boost attendance.
“It will go a really long way to helping those students who fell behind during Covid,” Bendheim said. “But even before Covid, not all students were on grade level, far from it. And so, we believe that this type of tutoring should be incorporated into schools for the long run … for the students who need it.”
She also recommended LAUSD — and other districts pursuing similar programs — keep a close eye on the amount of tutoring students are receiving, as opposed to the amount of tutoring being scheduled.
Scheduling more than the minimum amount of dosage required, she said, can be helpful.
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