There’s some good education news: As students, parents, and educators work to make up for setbacks caused by virtual learning and the COVID-19 pandemic, extra academic help is getting to students who need it
More than half — 56% — of public schools in the United States reported offering after-school programs for students in need of academic assistance during the 2022-2023 school year, according to a recent report from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Overall, this is exciting, says Jodi Grant, the executive director of Afterschool Alliance. It shows that resources are going to communities that need them, mostly those hit hardest by the pandemic.
When it comes to students seeking academic assistance, as opposed to those who need or might have been required to do it, the programs drop to serving 44% of students.
“The demand is so high,” Grant says. “We know that, prior to COVID, we weren’t reaching enough kids, so now we have this opportunity to really reach more of them in a way that we can sustain.”