CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – At a time when the learning gap between high and low performing students is growing, one nonprofit in Cedar Rapids says they’re bucking that trend.
The Zach Johnson Foundation works with more than a thousand students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District at nine high poverty schools.
It points to a few things it does differently to support learners with barriers, and it starts with investing in them.
“When we look at some of our groups that maybe we would describe as marginalized, and we look at them and we’re like ‘wow those groups don’t make the same amount of growth’, I really like to think about the ‘why’ of that,” said Steph Stulken, Zach Johnson Foundation Development Director.
The Zach Johnson Foundation provides free tutoring to students after school and in the summer through it’s Kids on Course program.
It serves nine ‘Title One’ schools in Cedar Rapids, and program leaders track how students score on tests when they join in elementary school through high school graduation.
Data shows students in Kids on Course are outperforming other students with similar demographics.
“It’s giving them chances, sometimes it’s a smaller group, sometimes it’s a quieter setting. We give them time, more chances to learn what was happening in the classroom,” Stulken said.
Kids on Course pairs students with tutors, many who are teachers or retired teachers who stick with them through high school.
The program spends around $1,600 per student per year. The nonprofit says the investment and one-on-one support don’t go to waste.
“Every kid deserves to have a champion, whether that’s someone at home or a coach, but they get a whole team of champions with us at the Zach Johnson Foundation,” Stulken said.
According to the Iowa Department of Education, students in the Cedar Rapids School District lag the state in math and reading scores. But students in Kids on Course outperformed classmates in reading at the elementary level, and reading and math at the middle school level.
The program says it’s not just tutoring, but connecting to the child’s family and working together to reduce barriers and increase achievement.
“You have to look at almost case-by-case of what do these families need and be ready to respond,” Stulken said.
The Kids on Course program just announced it’s expanding. Next school it’s adding a tenth school: Trailside Elementary.
As those students progress within the district it will follow them and expend to Franklin Middle and Washington High.
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