DPS elementary shows tutoring success

PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press
Walter Brawner, 10, plays "Sponge Bob Baseball" as K'Juan Graves, 10, swings an imaginary bat at Harding Elementary in Detroit. At the end of after-school tutoring they and other fifth-graders get computer time.

BY PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • January 20, 2009

Harding Elementary School on Detroit's west side was a dismally low-performing school -- so bad that in 2006, its principal and some 90% of its teachers were replaced in an effort to turn the school around.

Its MEAP scores in the 2005-06 school year failed to beat the Detroit Public Schools average in every category. But just two years later, Harding's MEAP scores exceeded the district's average in everything but fifth-grade science and Harding would have made Adequate Yearly Progress if math scores for fourth-grade special-education students were higher.

Harding could be an example of what the authors of No Child Left Behind envisioned when they made free tutoring available to low-income students in under-performing schools. The school has overcome the barriers to tutoring success experienced by other schools, such as monitoring, participation and educational quality.

But Harding also goes beyond the federal requirements, giving parents their choice of five tutoring programs. Two are funded by NCLB dollars, but the rest are paid for with money from the Skillman Foundation and 21st Century Schools grants.

Monique Johnson said kindergarten tutoring boosted her son, Shownn Rodgers, 6, into a first/second grade split class this year.

"I want him to be better than what he is," Johnson said.

The tutors in all five programs are certified teachers, including about half of the teachers at Harding. School officials say it's an advantage because they know the students' strengths and weaknesses. Lessons are tailored to each student's needs.

About 150 students -- nearly half of those eligible -- participate, meaning they are on school grounds from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

School staff members actively recruit students for tutoring. They also worked to make the students enjoy their after-school lessons, and in turn, Principal Sharon Harvel said, the students pushed the parents to allow them to attend.

After-school classes are formatted to help students grasp the concepts they are missing.

"The stories aren't as long as we do in a regular lesson," said K'Juan Graves, 10.