Roots Tutoring

We hope to bring the means of learning back to the children of Haiti who have lost over two hundred days of education, around a school year and a half, by the end of 2021. This loss of time was due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest. Far beyond just recent events though, Haiti’s educational outcomes were among the worst in the western hemisphere. A USAID early reading grade assessment revealed that roughly 75% of students by the end of first grade and nearly half of students finishing second grade are unable to read a single word. This leads students country-wide to repeat grades or end up dropping out of education due to being unable to pass their national exams. This is in part due to inadequate teaching stemming from overcrowded classrooms. It is our hope that we can alleviate the issues coming from overcrowded classrooms by enabling students to have more one-on-one time with tutors and educators through our solution. 

Gender gaps exist in access, learning achievement, and continuation in education (UNESCO). Girls without foundational skills are more likely to drop out of school, be in poverty, have higher rates of early pregnancy, and experience gender-based violence. 

Roots Tutoring uses a pre-existing web conferencing platform for interactive tutoring to help students improve foundational skills in reading, math, science, and language. It is blended with in-person school curriculum and is customizable to individual academic needs, gender, and geography. Roots Tutoring has several components.

1) Highly interactive online whiteboard

2) Individual instruction

3) Small group activities and individual work assignments in breakout rooms

4) Instructors can create quizzes from question banks and offer timely      feedback to learners

5) Assessment of student level, tracking of progress, and attendance

6) Mentorship for girls in addition to tutoring 

We recruit, mobilize, and train tutors to instruct students at the level they need in coordination with their teachers and schools to help them meet standards and excel. Students can use personal phones, tablets, and laptops to access a tutor when at home. Some can use computer labs we install with partner organizations. Roots Tutoring is a teacher-design and parent approved holistic approach that not only tutors, but mentors and nurtures students. Girls can be mentored by academically successful women role models to help them overcome gender specific barriers. 

Our target population is the 80% majority under-resourced and poor school-age children in Haiti. Specifically, students reading below grade level, struggling with math, and can neither afford tuition nor tutoring. We also put an extra focus on girls and their learning outcomes. This year only 11% of Haiti’s budget was dedicated to education (down from 16% last year). They are not provided with adequate resources and tools. Almost 80 percent of the country’s primary school teachers are not formally trained. Emphasis is on rote memorization and oftentimes students do not fully understand the subject matter. Public schools are critically overcrowded, and students cannot get one-on-one attention. 

Roots Tutoring will reduce high rates of illiteracy, failure on national exams, grade repetition, and disrupted learning.  Girls who finish secondary school have lower rates of teenage pregnancy and access to better jobs. Moreover, students in rural areas will benefit significantly since rural schools have lower performance outcomes and they can get tutoring from home.

We are well-positioned to deliver this solution as a mostly local community-led organization with several years of experience in teaching, tutoring, and training small and large groups in rural and urban settings in person and virtually in the community we serve. Roots Tutoring is the result of local teachers, school principals, and education advocates who are parents and have recognized the impact of COVID-19 and the preexisting performance gaps that exist and the impact on the future of the kids. It came after conversations with students themselves about their needs and style of learning they found helped them learn best. We are the community we serve.

The team is also a diverse mix of educators, students, IT experts who work to enhance the lives of marginalized people.

We are applying to Solve because we believe technology will play a big part in overcoming many of our current challenges. And we had previously been discussing the virtual tutoring idea which aligns very well with the Challenge. 

For our team, the most important aspect of Solve is networking with individuals who can help us help the students better. One challenge is that some students will not have access to hardware and internet connectivity. As a nonprofit, we work to forge partnerships to facilitate in-kind hardware donations and access to the internet. We also seek partnerships to implement STEM and technology in our schools.

Roots Tutoring is a tech-based educational model novel for educators and students across Haiti which uses a preexisting virtual learning platform to provide personalized tutoring. It enables easy assessment of academic level, tracking of progress, collaboration among peers and instructors, group as well as one-on-one instruction, and improves academic performance. It also solves the significant issue of students missing extensive school days from social unrest, natural disaster, or lack of transportation since students, tutors, and teachers can use it in the comfort of their homes. Rural schools in Haiti tend to lag their urban counterparts in performance, Roots Tutoring will help these students catch-up and meet national standards. The solution is easily adaptable and will provide tutoring to thousands of students yearly across Haiti upon scaling up.

The ultimate impact goals are to provide marginalized students with continuous access to quality education to build foundational skills, meet academic minimum standards, and excel through tutoring. For the next year we are training 50 tutors and teachers who will provide tutoring to 1000 students. We will also add an additional 3 schools to our list of partner schools. In the next 5 years, we will have trained 200 tutors on the platform and provide tutoring to 5000 students yearly. Dozens of schools will be part of our network. To achieve this, we will work with the Haitian Ministry of Education to introduce this solution to more schools. We will also work with other local and international partners to assist in scaling up efforts to include marketing, recruitment, project management, and fundraising.

Progress toward the goals is measured by quantifying student enrollment in our tutoring service and their learning outcomes:

1. Number of schools recruited

2. Number of teachers and tutors trained

3. Number of students enrolled and regularly getting tutored

4. Number of girls registered

5. Percentage of students improving from their pre-tutoring assessment scores

6. Percentage point of improvement

7. Number of tutored students passing national exams compared to non-tutored students

8. Involvement of parents and family

9. Partnerships with community and other stakeholders

Theory of change:

Quality education is a natural resource to be democratized through access for all to improve learning outcomes

Problem:                                                                                                    

Significant numbers of students lack access to quality education and lack foundational skills leading to them fall behind grade level, repeating grades, failing national exams, and dropping out of school. 

Student-centered learning:                                                              

Outreach, relationship building, partnerships                                                 

Assumptions:                                                                                                

• Sufficient financial resources, trained staff, regular student participation, and coordination between stakeholders                                                  
• A clear system to identify, refer, and enroll students                             
• Clear roles, structures, and processes

Outcomes:                                                                                                    

• Short-term- student access to resources and instruction instruction          
• Intermediate- improve learning and academic performance, increased number of graduations                                                                        
• Long-term- Students are better prepared to go to college, get good jobs, and escape poverty

Roots tutoring uses the Vedemo virtual learning platform. Other technologies needed are basic devises such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, desktops, and internet connection.

Our team respects all irrespective of differences. We recognize that women are underrepresented in tech. We work to recruit women to our projects and positions of leadership. Our aim is increase access for martialized people. To achieve this, we institute community-led projects. 

Home Roots Foundation is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity and does not discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on account of race, age, color, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, or religion or otherwise as may be prohibited by federal and state law. Any employee, board member, volunteer or client who believes that they or any other affiliate of Home Roots Foundation has been discriminated against is strongly encouraged to report this concern promptly to the Executive Director.

As a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization we work to improve access to education to low-income students and provide tutoring to academically struggling students. Their education has been significantly interrupted and their futures jeopardized. Their families struggle to pay for school tuition, fees, and basic necessities of life. Thus, we offer our tutoring services for free. Our business model is to raise funds to pay for tutors from crowdfunding, foundations, and work with local government and international bodies to acquire funding.

As a nonprofit 501 (c)3 organization, we obtain donations and grants from foundations, companies, and individuals. We also raise funds from crowdfunding sites we have partnered with. Additionally, we will partner with government and international bodies (e.g., Inter-American Development Bank) to obtain funding to scale up our tutoring services.

Our Solution is in its early pilot stage. However, we have received grants and funding for other projects. Currently, we have an educational project on GlobalGiving.

Donate to Home Roots Foundation (globalgiving.org)