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
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.
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