FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct 10, 2024

A survey conducted by the RAND Corporation shows National Partnership for Student Success Works

WASHINGTON, DC – The Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center released a new report today that shows AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, the US Department of Education and their partners in the National Partnership for Student Success have answered President Biden's call to recruit an additional 250,000 adults into roles such as mentors, tutors, and various other support positions for students. This goal was met and exceeded, a year ahead of schedule. The new report is based on a comprehensive and nationally representative survey of public-school principals conducted by the RAND Corporation.

The report shows during the 2023-24 school year, an estimated additional 136,000 adults provided tutoring, mentoring, college and career advising, and other essential support in public schools. When combined with the estimated additional 187,000 adults who had already joined these efforts in the 2022-23 school year, it shows schools, youth organizations, and other community groups have successfully met the Biden-Harris Administration's challenge, well before the summer 2025 deadline. In total, 323,000 additional adults stepped up to help students over the last two school years. 

“The surpassing of President Biden’s call is a clear indicator of the strength of the American spirit and our collective dedication to the future of our youth,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps. “The impact of these individuals, including AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers, cannot be overstated – they are not just addressing the academic gaps widened by the pandemic and providing critical support to hardworking educators but are also providing essential mentorship and support that will have lasting effects on students’ lives.”

Tens of thousands of schools significantly increased their capacity to provide high-intensity tutoring, mentoring, college/career advising, or wraparound supports in a single school year–for the second year in a row–by adding staff or partnering with student support providers, nonprofits, or colleges. The recruitment, scheduling, and coordination work involved in providing these types of supports is substantial. Nearly three-quarters of school principals report using at least one of the NPSS student supports in their efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism.

The NPSS Support Hub, based at the Everyone Graduates Center, brought together leading organizations from each of these student support areas–including Accelerate and the National Student Support Accelerator on tutoring, MENTOR on mentoring, the National College Attainment Network on postsecondary transition coaching, City Year on student success coaching, and Communities In Schools on wraparound/integrated student supports– to provide districts, institutions of higher education, and non-profit student support providers with guidance, voluntary quality standards, training materials, technical assistance, and mini-grants to accelerate community collaboration. It also organized a national network of over 200 youth-serving and education focused government and non-profit organizations, 200 school districts, and 50 institutions of higher education that support students in school and during out of school time and work together to enable more adults to provide NPSS-aligned evidence-based student supports.

Last year, more than 54,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers carried out activities that contribute to school readiness and K-12 success in 10,000 schools and in hundreds of out-of-school and summer programs. AmeriCorps also directed resources to this work, opening the agency’s American Rescue Plan Volunteer Generation Fund grant opportunity and the FY 2023 Volunteer Generation Fund to a broader set of public, nonprofit, faith-based, and community-based entities, and by creating grant priorities for entities recruiting and placing volunteers in roles as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, postsecondary transition coaches, and/or wraparound/integrated student support coordinators.

“When young people have trusted adults who they can count on in their life, they’re more likely to do better in school. Their mental health improves. And they’re better prepared to pursue rewarding lives and careers in the future,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “That’s why it’s such a big deal that we are meeting and exceeding the President’s goal for the National Partnership for Student Success. To all the champions, partners, and leaders who’ve worked to make this effort a success: thank you. You show us every day what it means to strategically invest in our students.”

The US Department of Education encourages colleges and universities to place more college students in high-impact jobs or volunteer positions to support P-12 students. Utilizing Federal Work-Study, AmeriCorps, and other state and local funds to pay college students, these positions include roles such as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, postsecondary transition coaches, or coordinators offering comprehensive student support in local schools or after-school programs. More than 50 colleges and universities have set goals to expand these roles through the NPSS Higher Education Coalition, and the report suggests their peers are stepping up too. According to the survey, 20 percent of school principals noted that college students have contributed NPSS supports within their schools. This marks an increase from the previous year with 31 percent of principals reporting a rise in the number of college students serving students in NPSS capacities.

The National Partnership for Student Success continues to support the field to identify and leverage a range of resources to bring more evidence-based and people-powered supports to children and youth nationwide. According to reports from approximately one-third of principals, only a subset of students who require high-intensity tutoring, mentoring, success coaching, post-secondary advising, or wraparound supports are currently receiving these essential services. This finding highlights the urgent need for continued NPSS efforts.

The NPSS Support Hub and its core technical assistance partners have a number of new resources available:

  • The National Student Support Accelerator introduced a novel tool for school districts to evaluate and improve their tutoring programs through evidence-based practices and expert guidance. 
  • City Year has released a comprehensive Student Success Coaching playbook, designed to facilitate the adoption of success coaching models in various educational and youth-serving settings.
  • The National Partnership for Student Success Support Hub is set to unveil a rich training resource library, featuring new materials from MENTOR, to bolster the training of individuals in evidence-based student support roles.
  • The National Partnership for Student Success Support Hub, supported by the Leon Lowenstein Foundation, announced a new phase of community collaboration challenge microgrants. Ranging from $5,000 to $10,000, these grants are dedicated to empowering youth-serving nonprofits, educational districts, and government entities to launch, expand, and test evidence-based, people-powered support initiatives for the betterment of children and youth nationwide. Individuals interested are encouraged to apply by November 15, 2024.

To read the full report or to find out more information about the National Partnership for Student Success and how to get involved, please visit www.partnershipstudentsuccess.org. 

The National Partnership for Student Success, a public-private partnership between AmeriCorps, The US Department of Education, and the Everyone Graduates Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education launched in July 2022 to meet the president’s goal. For the past two years, NPSS worked to increase the number of adults providing tutoring, mentoring, student success coaching, postsecondary transition coaching and student support coordination in the nation’s schools and out of school time programs.

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.

AmeriCorps offers opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to be a part of the national service community, grow personally and professionally, and receive benefits for their service. Learn how to get involved at AmeriCorps.gov/Serve.