Issue Campaign
FORWARD SCHOLARS
Getting students on track
The pandemic changed the course of kids’ lives in many ways, but it had a devastating effect on education. Many of our kids fell behind and are still working to get back on track. Time, however, is not on their side.
Studies show if a child cannot read age-appropriate books by the end of third grade, they will struggle with reading their entire lives. After asking parents, grandparents, community members and educators, we have created our Forward Scholars tutoring program.
Forward Scholars is for Milwaukee Public School students in grades K5–3 who are not yet reading at grade level. The program takes an intergenerational approach with research-based interventions and individualized lesson plans because many students benefit from one-on-one attention from a caring adult. Volunteer tutors receive training as well as ongoing support.
On May 27th, we finished negotiations on a $407,500 tutoring contract with Milwaukee Public Schools. We hired our first Executive Director, Dr. Carrie Streiff-Stuessy, to run the program. We have also hired early literacy specialists and recruited over 150 tutors.
As the window of time between kindergarten and third grade continues to close, we are acting now to put kids back on a path to lifelong success.
Learn more about Forward Scholars here.
Contact Dr. Carrie Streiff-Stuessy at carriess@forwardscholars.org for more information.
