ALABAMA schools will offer more tutoring to all students in 2018, the state’s education secretary said Thursday.
The move follows a decision last year by the U.S. Department of Education to require that all public schools provide free, in-person instruction for all students, with the expectation that it be in English.
Under the new plan, Alabama will expand the program to all schools, with about half of them to offer tutoring in English and about half in math.
The state’s board of education and state education commissioner said the expansion is aimed at boosting math and reading skills for students.
Tutor programs in Alabama include:Students who attend a magnet school in Alabama may take the course in the fall or spring of each academic year.
Tutoring is not allowed in other schools.
AlaskaAlaska will be the first state in the country to require all public elementary schools to provide tutoring as part of their curricula, according to state Education Secretary David Hartley.
Alaska requires schools to have at least one teacher with tutoring experience.
The new statewide requirement will apply to Alaska public schools, including those in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Kodiaks Ferry, Kodiach, Osheaga, Prince William and Skagway.
The requirements are meant to provide more opportunities for students to access tutoring and to help students learn more about themselves and the world, Hartley said in a statement.
The plan includes some $25 million in grants to help pay for tutoring for Alaska students, and Hartley says he expects the number of students who receive tutoring will increase as more students are enrolled in Alaska’s public schools.
The $25,000 grant will be awarded each year to schools in Anchorage and Fairbanks that meet the new state minimum of 60 percent math and 60 percent reading in grades K-12.
The Alaska program is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at increasing math and literacy in schools, which have been among the most rigorous in the nation.
More than 80 percent of American schools use at least some math and at least 70 percent of students have at most one foreign language, according the National Center for Education Statistics.
