The Reading, Math and Early Learning Corps are looking for more area school tutors to help students get to grade-level proficiency in reading and math.

“The reason for this is because there is still a significant need for support for our students all across Minnesota, but particularly we’re focusing on our more rural communities, where students are struggling to get up to that grade level in both reading and math,” senior manager for AmeriCorps tutoring Laura Isdahl said. “Only about a third of students in Minnesota are at that grade level in reading and math.”

The Reading and Math Corps in a nationwide tutoring program that works with schools to bring in tutors to help students in individual or small group settings during the school day.

“We partner with our schools. They let us know they need this number of tutors to support those students that need that additional one-on-one or small group time, and we actually provide a really robust training for tutors,” Isdahl said.

“It’s not only just the skills, but those tutors also are spending a lot of time building relationships with those students as well, and a lot of times it may be the only time in a school day where they have individual attention from an adult.”

Isdahl said the Lyon County area is currently looking for seven tutors between Lakeview, Lynd, Minneota, St. Mary’s School in Tracy and Tracy Elementary.

There has been a higher demand for tutors in recent years.

“The need has been pretty significant in Minnesota for a long time. I would say the pandemic has really only exacerbated that, where those school years had a lot of disruptions,” Isdahl said. “Even more recently, schools have been asking for more tutors.”

Lyla Ulferts is currently a reading tutor at Lakeview Elementary, where she is in her second year tutoring and previously did a year at Willmar Preschool.

“I really love it because I work with the same students every day. I think I have about 19 right now that I work with … Because I’m working with them at the same time each day, I’m getting to know them really well, and I get to see the progress they make,” Ulferts said. “It just makes me really happy that I get to be a part of that progress, along with their teachers and parents and anyone else helping them.”

Ulferts said tutors typically work with the same or similar group of students throughout the year, and get student assignments by “benchmarks,” which monitors progress.

“We’re basically just assessing (where students are at) by having them read a few pages and seeing what their score is, then comparing that to what they should be at,” Ulferts said. “We actually track their progress weekly, so we have a graph that we can see exactly how they’re doing with data points. It’s all there to see, and you can definitely see the growth while they are doing it.”

Isdahl and Ulferts both commented on the flexibility of tutoring, ranging from part-time to full-time, and included benefits and pay. Those interested can find more information at join.readingandmath.org.

“I think it’s important for people who are interested to know just how much of a difference they can make,” Ulferts said. “I have one student, he was a second grader last year … By the end of the year, the progress he made was just a really big jump. I have him again this year, and again it’s just a huge jump.”

The state of Minnesota has implemented the READ Act, effective July 1 this year, which ensures all students are reading at or above grade level, and has brought in additional training the teachers and faculty are currently working on.

Minnesota also has math and science standards to meet, and are supported with different programs for multi-tiered systems of intervention.

With the need of teachers, educators and tutors continuing to grow, those involved can attest to the impactful and rewarding work that can be done.

“This year, I have a first grade girl, and I think it’s been six weeks since we started. She was still working on naming letter sounds and she was very quiet and shy. Now, she’s working on blending bigger words together super quickly, just page after page. I can see her confidence, she’s just so open now,” Ulferts said. “You really get to know the kids and build relationships, and that also makes it super meaningful.”