GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — The pandemic is posing many challenges for students, especially elementary school students learning the fundamentals of language and reading.

The North Carolina Education Corps, a statewide organization, built a system to combat these challenges through one-on-one or small group tutoring sessions.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the Department of Public Instruction, 55% of third graders tested at or below reading proficiency levels in the 2020-21 academic year 

  • The North Carolina Education Corps provides one-on-one or small group instruction in the foundational skills of literacy for students K-3

  • The North Carolina Education Corps currently partners with 24 school districts across the state

The North Carolina Education Corps launched in September 2020 as a response to the impact the pandemic has had on students struggling to learn. The program currently works with 24 school districts across the state, bringing in trained literacy tutors to provide 30-minute one-on-one or small group sessions with students three times a week. 

Sierra Nelson is a corps member working at Allen Jay Elementary School in High Point. A friend suggested the program to her since she’s studying to become a speech-language pathologist at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. 

“I think communication is often a privilege that we take for granted. So, I think it’s really interesting and really important to teach that to kids and help children that have these communication and language disorders,” Nelson said.

What Nelson learns in her own classes overlaps with her work as a corps member, giving her a first-hand look at her future as a speech pathologist. Nelson works with kindergarteners, first graders and third graders. 

“What I’m doing here is kind of a mirror of what I want to do and plan to do in my future as an SLP,” Nelson said.

The North Carolina Education Corps currently strives to obtain more than 200 members. Each of there more than 100 members are trained by learning coaches in the science behind foundational reading skills and literacy before teaching students. 

The program is described as an independent nonprofit, according to their website. It was started by the N.C. State Board of Education and the governor's office, along with private educational foundations support. 

Each corps member is placed at a school where they do part-time work as a district employee. 

“I’ve never had a job where I left feeling so rewarded and just feeling so accomplished that I actually had an impact in someone else’s life other than mine,” Nelson said. 

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction reported 55% of third graders tested at or below grade-proficiency in the 2020-2021 academic year. The North Carolina Education Corps targets kindergarten through 3rd grade students to work on the foundational skills of literacy. 

The program looks to expand into 35 total school districts next year. For more information on how to apply, click here. 

Editor's note: This article was updated to state the launch of the program was in September 2020, the number of members, and that the program is an independent nonprofit, formed by the N.C. State Board od Education and the governor's office, along with educational foundations support.