Impact Report SY 2023-24
National model. Made for Memphis.
Executive Summary
Literacy Mid-South’s Tutor901 program is a partnership between Literacy Mid-South (LMS), Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), Millington Municipal Schools, local public charter schools, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), Accelerate, and local and national funders.
Through the support of our funding partners, LMS has donated $10.5 million in tutoring support to our school partners since Fall 2022
School Year 2023-24 Impact
3,000 150+ 26 97%
Memphis students received high-impact reading tutoring
paid tutors
elementary schools
students cleared TDOE-required attendance threshold
4,184,100 minutes of tutoring
$5,400,000
My daughter actually loves to read to us. She’s proud of herself and so are we! Thank you all!
estimated poverty-fighting benefits for tutored students
One Goal: Student Success
Tutoring support aligned with classroom instruction
Literacy Mid-South’s tutoring support is designed to bolster school partners’ academic initiatives, supporting the reading development happening in the classroom.
Academics
In alignment with state and district standards, Tutor901 utilizes grade-level appropriate i-Ready materials to guide tutoring sessions Session content follows school partners’ curriculum cadence to reinforce skills students learn in the classroom
Tutoring is provided with a focus on 2nd and 3rd graders to support state and local policies focused on 3rd grade proficiency
Research & Data
School partners and LMS use data to equitably inform the selection of schools and students receiving support based on demonstrated need and ability to accommodate tutoring
In partnership with Accelerate, LMS is engaging in a randomized evaluation of Tutor901's impact, providing a unique opportunity to understand the students who benefit most from tutoring suport
School support
LMS officially adopted all 18 MSCS schools receiving tutoring through MSCS’s Adopt-A-School Program
Since Summer 2021, LMS has distributed more than 320,000 free, high-quality books to Memphis families
In collaboration with schools and MSCS’s FACE department, LMS supported over 100 family and community engagement events at schools in SY23-24
LMS’s staffing model takes significant burdens off of schools such as tutor management, training, and assistance with scheduling
Partnerships
The Early Literacy Consortium, which LMS co-convenes, facilitates cross-sector literacy support from community partners
Tutor901 is aligned to the goals of a number of strategic initiatives in Memphis, including MSCS’s Early Literacy Community Partnership Plan.
What makes Tutor901 high-impact?
Tutor901's intervention model is aligned to the Tennessee Department of Education’s definition of high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring, as well as the more rigorous standards of high-impact tutoring defined by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University Key components of this design are included below
Program characteristic
Tutor : Student Ratio
Research-backed practices
The most effective programs have no more than three students per tutor Moving beyond this number becomes small group instruction, which is less personalized and requires a highly skilled teacher to ensure learning gains for all students being tutored together
Tutor901
Dosage
Effective program include three or more sessions per week for a minimum of ten weeks Older students can participate in 3060-minute sessions, whereas young students can benefit from shorter sessions
The ratio of tutors to students is consistently 1:3
Students receive:
45 minutes per session 3 sessions per week 12 weeks per semester
Setting
Tutor training
Tutoring interventions that are conducted during the school day consistently result in greater student attendance and academic outcomes than those that are held after school or during the summer
A wide variety of tutors can successfully improve student outcomes, as long as they receive training and ongoing support aligned to their incoming capabilities
Tutoring is provided exclusively during the school day
Tutors receive pre-service training on i-Ready materials, tutoring skills, and equity-informed strategies for connecting with students, as well as ongoing training and targeted feedback
*EdResearch for Action, “Design Principles for Accelerating Student Learning with High-Impact Tutoring” (June 2024)
High-impact tutoring Starts with high-impact tutors
In the 2023-24 School Year, Literacy Mid-South recruited, trained, and supported more than 150 part-time tutors, who were paid between $20-30 per hour Tutors came to the program with a variety of interests and backgrounds, but all were motivated by a passion for supporting students Since Tutor901 began, 24 tutors have begun full-time jobs in schools or are pursuing a career in education
Tutor demographics
identify as Black/African American have experience working for nonprofit organizations are former educators attended legacy MCS/SCS schools have children enrolled in MSCS or public charter schools are currently enrolled in a school, college, or university identify as Black men
89%
Tutors were more interested in pursuing a career in education 100%
Tutors felt they made connections with their students
Tutors felt adequately trained to lead tutoring sessions
Students reported enjoying working with their tutors
School staff reported tutors were well-equipped to support student literacy development
As an educator, I understand the importance of literacy in the lives of children Having the opportunity to help inspire the love of reading and support children in becoming better readers is what keeps me motivated! So often children need to hear that they’re capable and intelligent. Seeing children become more confident readers makes the work worth it!
Tutor901 tutor
School spotlights
Literacy Mid-South partnered with 26 elementary schools in SY 2023-24 (18 MSCS, 8 charter) located throughout Shelby County All 26 schools hold Title I designations due to their high concentration of students living in poverty
MSCS-managed partner schools’ average Tennessee Department of Education-assessed letter grade was a low D (2.17 out of 5), nearly half a grade level below the average of all MSCS elementary schools. Partner schools also educate a higher population of Economically Disadvantaged (65%) students than the average MSCS elementary school (55%)
Anonymized profiles of six SY23-24 partner schools are provided below as case studies of Tutor901's impact on students’ growth towards grade level ELA proficiency
These profiles demonstrate the range of Tutor901 partner schools’ student proficiency. For example, 72% of 3rd graders at School A began the year reading two or more grade levels below proficiency This figure shrank to 28% at the end of the year At School C, where students began the year closer to grade level proficiency, the share of 3rd graders reading at or above grade level grew from 13% in the Fall to 59% in the Spring
Regardless of where students started, tutored students at all partner schools showed significant growth towards grade level proficiency On average, tutored students demonstrated 113% growth towards their i-Ready-identified Annual Growth Target, a
*TDOEassignsschoolsA-Flettergradesannuallybasedonstudentachievement,studentacademicgrowth,andgrowthofthehighestneedstudents critical measures for achieving grade-level proficiency.
The impact that Literacy Mid-South has had on our community is simply amazing The growth our scholars have had is unmatched We must have them back MSCS Assistant Principal
School A
TVAAS score: 3
TDOE letter grade: D
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
This year, Literacy Mid-South conducted during the day reading tutoring with all 3rd graders and some identified 2nd graders. 3rd grade median progress to typical growth is 115% No other grade level has a median progress to typical growth over 100% at [School A] They also provided wrap-around services to promote a culture of reading within the school environment Literacy Mid-South attends every afterschool program, including parent-teacher conferences, literacy nights, and family data nights, providing free books to students and families They have also sponsored a Book Vending Machine that we currently have to reward and incentivize students Our students absolutely love the Book Vending Machine.
Prinicipal, School A
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
to Spring i-Ready Growth
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
School B
TVAAS score: 2
TDOE letter grade: D
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
to Spring i-Ready Growth
The presence of LMS tutors, their level of training and engagement with students, and the consistency of the service to our students has been more than a blessing...student confidence has also been impacted positively by the presence of the tutors and the relationships built through the consistency in service to our students.
Principal, School B
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
School C
TVAAS score: 1
TDOE letter grade: D
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
The tutors were very intentional about supporting the students. The 2nd-grade teachers were excited about the growth of students in reading who were in tutoring. Our 3rd-grade students performed better on district CFAs and i-Ready Diagnostics. It was a pleasure working with [Literacy Mid-South’s Tutor Support Manager] and the tutors They were always professional.
Assistant Principal, School C
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
to Spring i-Ready Growth
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
School D
TVAAS score: 5
TDOE letter grade: B
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
The tutors at [School D] were the best, most respectful, reliable group of tutors I have ever had the pleasure to working with. The students loved them and could count on their attendance
Instructional Resource Teacher, School D
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
School E
TVAAS score: 5
TDOE letter grade: C
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
i-Ready
I believe the extra tutoring for students was very beneficial.
PLC coach, School E
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
School F
TVAAS score: 4
TDOE letter grade: C
2nd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
2nd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
[We want Literacy Mid-South tutoring to continue because] we want to continue exposing our scholars to literacy and developing their reading skills. Principal, School F
3rd grade Fall i-Ready assessment
3rd grade Spring i-Ready assessment
Thank you to our partners
Over the past three academic years, Literacy Mid-South (LMS) has purposely planned and executed a high-impact tutoring initiative at over 25 elementary schools in MemphisShelby County and Millington Municipal School districts. Utilizing generous and unprecedented financial support from the Tennessee Department of Education, Literacy Mid-South has trained hundreds of literacy tutors to deliver frequent, high-quality phonics and comprehension instruction for our community’s youngest citizens at no cost to our school district partners.
This initiative, Tutor901, has proven effective in advancing student academic achievement while instilling a sense of self-efficacy and love of learning within our students To date, LMS’s Tutor901 program has tutored 8,000 students in the Mid-South for nearly 7.9 million instructional minutes. Through this support, students have demonstrated meaningful growth towards grade-level reading proficiency.
Our mission at LMS it to equip our community to pursue opportunities by facilitating equitable access to literacy across the lifespan. Through Tutor901, we are doing just that: providing literacy resources and skill development to our developing readers/ The benefits of Tutor901 are myriad and go well beyond short-term growth data: a $3 7 million investment in SY23-24 yielded an estimated $5.4 million in poverty-fighting benefits for tutored students. Over time, this programming will have positive impacts on our local and state economies as we develop a more prepared and proficient
workforce.
Literacy Mid-South could not achieve the successes of Tutor901 without the support and collaboration of our tutors, community partners, Board of Directors, staff, school leaders, teachers, and students We have barely scratched the surface of what is possible with Literacy Mid-South leading the charge in strategic and responsive high-impact tutoring in Greater Memphis With your support, we can’t wait to see what comes next
Sincerely,
John Nichols Interim Chief Executive Officer Literacy Mid-South