In New York City, there will be no summer school for K, 1st and 2nd graders this year - creating a missed opportunity for preventing learning gaps from further widening. This is happening just as educators are striking the alarm especially for students of color who reside in low-income neighborhoods.

A recent New York Times article[1] warned the average student could fall seven months behind academically. Alarmingly, Black and Latinx students could experience even greater learning loss, equivalent to 10 months for Black students and nine months for Latinx students, according to an analysis from McKinsey & Company. The potential educational outcome for elementary school students is so dire that it has been coined the “Covid-19 slide.”

In response, Read Alliance (READ) launched a pilot virtual tutoring program this month, which will scale up to a summer program engaging more than 100 early education students this summer, and employing over 100 teens as one-to-one tutors.

And because teens have fewer options for employment this year than any year in recent history, READ’s dual model provides opportunities for teens to continue earning – while learning – throughout this crisis.

Over the past 20 years, Read Alliance has shown that this strategy is effective. More than 85% of READ’s young readers gain more than a grade level’s worth of reading ability over the course of just four months of programming.

With the national spotlight finally illuminating inequities that we have long worked to address, READ believes that solutions that promote potential and promise are key to moving toward a future where children from all backgrounds have equal opportunity to succeed.

[1] Goodstein, Dana. Research Shows Students Falling Months Behind During Virus Interruptions. The New York Times, June 5, 2020.