Kane County Reporter

Students whose learning has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can receive tutoring through the Illinois Tutoring Initiative. The Northern Illinois University College of Education and the State of Illinois are partnering to provide the tutoring.

The Initiative will be administered by the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) is raising awareness of the program through Facebook. 

“Northern Illinois University is teaming with the State of Illinois to provide tutoring that will support students whose learning has been impacted by COVID-19,” he posted. “Tutors hired by NIU will focus on math and reading with children in 3rd through 8th grades."

School districts disproportionately affected by the pandemic will receive priority. Each district is responsible for determining which students need tutors, the areas in which they need help, and whether the tutoring will take place in-person or online, according to the NIU Newsroom.

The program will be funded by part of the $8 billion in pandemic relief for Illinois schools.  NIU was awarded $3.4 million to be a coordinating hub for 16 counties in the northwest corner of the state: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, Henry, Jo Daviess, La Salle, Lee, Marshall, Ogle, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago.

“This is high-impact tutoring,” Jennifer Johnson, senior director of the Office of Student Success in the NIU College of Education said. “This is not ‘homework help.' This is acceleration, not remediation. This is directly aligned with curriculum and with strategies identified in the Illinois State Board of Education’s Learning Renewal initiative.”

The initiative could help to boost declining graduation rates. Illinois schools saw a 2% decline in the graduation rate in 2021, which shouldn’t be compared to previous years due to the impact of the pandemic.  

"ISBE does not recommend comparing 2021 graduation rates to 2020," wrote ISBE communications director Jackie Matthews in an email to the Jacksonville Journal-Courier. "Illinois took emergency action to adjust graduation requirements in 2020 to account for the sudden shift to remote learning in March and the inequitable access to technology and supports at home, so graduation rates rose to 88% in 2020 due to the adjusted requirements."

Matthews said the state's four-year graduation rate (86%) held steady with and even rose above 2019 (85.9%) and previous years.  He called it "a testament to the incredible work of Illinois' educators to keep students engaged and on the path to college and career" under difficult circumstances.

Anyone interested in becoming a tutor should visit https://employment.niu.edu/postings/61310 or https://employment.niu.edu/postings/61309 to apply.