STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8327 IN SENATE January 18, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a pilot program to provide high impact tutoring The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3641-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 3641-c. High impact tutoring grant program. 1. For the purposes of 4 this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (a) "local education provider" or "local education provider group" 6 means: 7 (i) a public school or a group of public schools operated by a school 8 district; or 9 (ii) a charter school or a group of charter schools established pursu- 10 ant to article fifty-six of this chapter; and 11 (b) "high impact tutoring pilot program" means a grant program estab- 12 lished and administered by the department pursuant to this section. 13 2. The department shall establish and administer a high impact tutor- 14 ing pilot program to provide grants to local education providers to 15 implement high impact tutoring programs prioritizing low-income or 16 underserved students to address student learning loss or unfinished 17 learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 18 3. (a) A local education provider shall submit an application for a 19 grant to the department in a form determined by the department. A local 20 education provider or group of local education providers may apply 21 jointly for such grant. The local education provider shall demonstrate 22 need for support through the grant program, as determined by the depart- 23 ment, which may include serving a high percentage of low-income or 24 underserved students, or serving students who need academic assistance 25 in reaching levels of proficiency and have a low level of attainment 26 scores in the past year. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11390-01-3S. 8327 2 1 (b) At a minimum, an application shall include the local education 2 provider's high impact tutoring program plan that includes the following 3 information: 4 (i) how the local education provider's program plan addresses the 5 following elements of a high impact tutoring program and how it modifies 6 or omits such elements and the reasons for such modifications or omis- 7 sions: 8 (1) tutoring is provided in groups of four or fewer students; 9 (2) the same tutor instructs the participating students throughout the 10 school year; 11 (3) tutoring is provided a minimum of three times per week; 12 (4) tutoring is implemented during the school day, not as a before- or 13 after-school program, and is supplemental to core academic instruction 14 and not a replacement for such instruction; 15 (5) high quality trained tutors provide such tutoring, including 16 teachers, paraprofessionals, community providers, AmeriCorps members, 17 and any other individuals who have received training; 18 (6) the program uses a high-quality curriculum that is aligned with 19 academic standards and may be provided by the local education provider; 20 and 21 (7) tutoring is data-driven, with interim assessments to monitor 22 student progress; 23 (ii) how students will be identified for participation in the program; 24 (iii) the number of students projected to be served and whether those 25 students are low-income or underserved students; 26 (iv) the projected cost of implementing the program; 27 (v) how student academic progress and other program outcomes will be 28 measured; 29 (vi) whether the local education provider will create its own program 30 and whether it will partner with existing tutoring providers for imple- 31 mentation or for tutor capacity and training; 32 (vii) which academic subjects will be the focus of the program; 33 (viii) how the local education provider will be supported; 34 (ix) how tutoring will be delivered and how the delivery will accommo- 35 date remote learning; 36 (x) whether tutors will follow a specific curriculum; 37 (xi) how tutoring will be incorporated into the school day; 38 (xii) the needs of a rural local education provider for financial or 39 technical support to implement a high impact tutoring program; and 40 (xiii) any other criteria determined by the department. 41 (c) Local education providers implementing high impact tutoring 42 programs shall consider seat time and scheduling so that students have 43 consistent access to non-core academic instruction. 44 (d) The department shall review the applications received pursuant to 45 this subdivision and shall award grants after considering the alignment 46 of the local education provider's program plan with the elements of a 47 high impact tutoring program as described in this subdivision. 48 4. Within the amounts appropriated therefor, the department shall 49 determine the amount and durations of grant awards. The goal of such 50 grant awards shall be to serve as many students as possible through high 51 impact tutoring programs, including low-income and underserved students 52 and students in rural areas, while ensuring that grant money is awarded 53 to high impact tutoring programs that are likely to achieve positive 54 student outcomes. 55 5. (a) The department shall determine allowable uses for grant money, 56 which uses may include, but need not be limited to, hiring or contract-S. 8327 3 1 ing for tutors or providing stipends or other incentives to paraprofes- 2 sionals, retired teachers, AmeriCorps members, and community organiza- 3 tions to ensure tutoring capacity; developing curriculum and related 4 supplies; covering costs associated with renting or purchasing physical 5 space for tutoring and covering administrative expenses. A local educa- 6 tion provider may make a request to the department to use grant money 7 for purposes other than those specified by the department if the 8 proposed use of the grant money increases the effectiveness of the high 9 impact tutoring program. 10 (b) Local education providers may offer tutors and other professionals 11 offering tutoring services information about potential pathways into the 12 teaching profession for the school district. 13 (c) Local education providers, tutors and other professionals offering 14 tutoring services shall comply with all state and federal laws relating 15 to health, safety, and antidiscrimination, including, but not limited to 16 Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Pub.L. 88-352, as 17 amended; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 18 1201 et seq., as amended; section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 19 29 U.S.C. Sec. 794, as amended, and Title IX of the Education Amendment 20 of 1972, 20 U.S.C. Secs. 1681 to 1688, as amended. 21 6. (a) On or before the reporting deadlines established by the depart- 22 ment, in each year in which a local education provider or group of 23 providers receives a grant pursuant to this section, the provider or 24 providers shall submit a report to the department that includes the 25 information required by the department. At a minimum, the report shall 26 include the following information: 27 (i) the number of students who participated in the high impact tutor- 28 ing program and nonidentifying information, including demographic infor- 29 mation, relating to those students; 30 (ii) any adjustments made to the local education provider's program 31 plan and the reason adjustments were made; 32 (iii) how the local education provider maintained consistent access 33 for participating students to non-core academic instruction; 34 (iv) how program grants were used by the local education provider and 35 a summary of other resources used, if any, to provide high impact tutor- 36 ing beyond the resources provided through the program; 37 (v) the academic achievement results or other criteria used to place 38 students in the high impact tutoring program; 39 (vi) the impact or student outcomes associated with the local educa- 40 tion provider's high impact tutoring program; and 41 (vii) whether the local education provider's high impact tutoring 42 program will continue in the following fiscal year and if not, the 43 reason the tutoring program will not continue. 44 (b) On or before July first of each year that a high impact tutoring 45 program is implemented pursuant to this section, the department shall 46 submit a summarized report to the education committees of the senate and 47 the assembly concerning the program, including, at a minimum, the grants 48 awarded, the participating local education providers, the duration of 49 the program, and a summary of the information provided pursuant to para- 50 graph (a) of this subdivision concerning the high impact tutoring 51 programs implemented by the local education providers and of available 52 student outcomes. 53 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.