In the Wake of COVID-19: Lessons Learned From a District-University Tutoring Partnership

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Barriers to Equitable Access: Broadband Connectivity, Tutoring Resources, and School Finance (Table 12)

Abstract

This study focuses on the experiences of graduate students working closely with K-12 students for 20 hours a week as tutors in a school-university collaboration. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups with 24 tutors, this qualitative analysis unveils crucial insights, challenges, and firsthand observations of the implementation and scaling of the tutoring program. This research offers a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators involved in meeting the aspirational goals of school-based equity initiatives in the aftermath of the pandemic. Preliminary findings highlight the consistently experienced factors that tutors perceived as affecting the fidelity and impact of the university-district partnership (autonomy, leadership, communication networks, diversity assumptions, and structural issues). Findings also revealed how expanded access to adult and near-peer tutors can catalyze positive relationships and school performance when students are paired with tutors with whom they share racial or cultural affinity.

Author

• Monique Saastamoinen, University of North Carolina - Greensboro