Miami-Dade County Public Schools, University of Chicago Education Lab, Accelerate, and Griffin Catalyst Partner to Expand $9M High-Dosage Tutoring Initiative

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), in partnership with Accelerate - The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning and the University of Chicago Education Lab, announced a $9 million gift from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel and founder of Griffin Catalyst, to support the expansion of high-dosage math tutoring for Miami-Dade students recovering from the education crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The support initially enabled nine M-DCPS schools to co-design, implement, and refine in-school tutoring programs for students in grades six through eight. This three-year partnership, which is part of the national Personalized Learning Initiative, benefited an initial cohort of over 1,100 students for the 2023-24 academic year, with thousands of additional students expected to enroll in future school years.

“Every child can succeed when they receive support tailored to their unique educational needs, interests, and aspirations,” said Griffin. “By investing in personalized learning, Miami-Dade County Public Schools can empower students to reach their full potential and prepare them for success in an increasingly complex and dynamic world.”

The COVID-19 pandemic cost the average U.S. student at least half a year of learning, with children from low-income backgrounds experiencing even more significant setbacks. M-DCPS has been a national leader in making strategic investments to address the impacts of the pandemic, and this partnership builds on the progress it has made to accelerate learning over the last few years. Developed in collaboration with M-DCPS curricular experts, this local initiative will introduce tutors into Math Foundational Skills Courses, aimed at offering additional support to students who need it.

“We have witnessed the impact the pandemic has had on our students and the toll it has taken on our school community,” said Dr. Jose L. Dotres, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Schools. “We are looking forward to this multi-year partnership to strengthen how to optimally scale this high-dosage tutoring initiative to help our students accelerate their learning to achieve their full academic potential.”

Prior research from the University of Chicago Education Lab has shown the promise of high-dosage tutoring (HDT), which earned the endorsement of U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last year. Building on prior research, this current effort is part of the Personalized Learning Initiative (PLI), an ambitious national initiative designed to help districts design, test, and scale HDT to address pandemic learning loss. For the PLI, the University of Chicago Education Lab and the national research organization MDRC are partnering with states and school districts across the country to engage tens of thousands of students in testing different versions of high-dosage tutoring to lower the cost and increase the scale of this proven intervention. In addition, recently released preliminary results from the PLI are some of the first indications that HDT programs are working in the real world to reverse pandemic-era learning loss.

In partnership with Accelerate - The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning - M-DCPS is poised to become a national leader in identifying and scaling practices that significantly advance student learning. This initiative presents a substantial opportunity to impact policy and support the implementation of impactful educational interventions at scale.

"On our current trajectory, pandemic-induced learning loss will leave a long-term, life-altering scar for millions of American students," said Jens Ludwig, Pritzker Director and co-director of the University of Chicago Education Lab. “I am enormously grateful to Ken Griffin for this gift, which has the potential to expand educational opportunity and improve social mobility.”

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About Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), an A-rated district, is the nation’s third-largest school system, with more than 400 schools and a diverse enrollment of more than 330,000 students from over 160 countries. Our ongoing tradition of groundbreaking achievement has earned top recognition at the national and international levels. M-DCPS also recently reached a landmark graduation rate of 92 percent.

About Griffin Catalyst

Griffin Catalyst is the civic engagement initiative of Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, encompassing his philanthropic and community impact efforts. Tackling the world’s greatest challenges in innovative, action-oriented, and evidence-driven ways, Griffin Catalyst is dedicated to expanding opportunity and improving lives across six areas of focus: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation, and Communities.

About the University of Chicago Education Lab

The University of Chicago Education Lab partners with school districts to design, test, and scale programs to ensure all students have the opportunity for future success. By generating cutting-edge evidence in a real-world setting, our insights are not theoretical; they are designed to be applied in the classroom and to reach students at scale – translating into maximum impact for students nationwide.

About MDRC

MDRC is committed to finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing the nation—from reducing poverty and bolstering economic self-sufficiency to improving public education and college graduation rates. MDRC designs promising new interventions, evaluates existing programs using the highest research standards, and provides technical assistance to build better programs and deliver effective interventions at scale.

About Accelerate - The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning

Accelerate is a nonprofit organization, incubated and launched by the national nonprofit America Achieves, that seeks to embed high-impact tutoring programs into public schools now and for the long term. Launched in April 2022 with an initial fund of $65 million, Accelerate funds and supports innovation in schools, launches high-quality research, and advances a federal and state policy agenda to support this work.