Malachi Morris-Jackson was struggling with distance learning, falling behind in reading and algebra, when he met high school senior Cooper Silverman. In weekly sessions figuring out equations and analyzing prose, the volunteer tutor works to uplift Malachi — telling him “you got this” and keeping the 11-year-old engaged by pulling off the occasional card trick.
“Far and away, the most effective tool we have to begin fixing this is tutoring,” said Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. “Nothing else can be put in place as quickly with as high a likelihood of working.”Malachi Morris-Jackson in a tutoring session with Cooper Silverman. Arlene Reed, Malachi’s aunt, says Cooper “makes him feel like he’s important.
Yet this tutor-for-hire frenzy highlights concerns about how the pandemic could further widen the education divide.“We are going to have an exacerbation of massive inequality,” said Prudence L. Carter, dean of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. “And many children from economically vulnerable backgrounds who need access to tutors will very likely not get that support.”
Open the schools, problem solved.
Tutor access inequity.
Open schools now