United Way of Greater Atlanta and Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) collaborate to strengthen academic support by reducing learning loss throughout the state of Georgia.
Learning loss refers to any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills or to reversals in academic progress, most commonly due to extended gaps or discontinuities in a student’s education.
Through the strategy of Academic Support, grant funding will support programming that incorporates at least one of the following:
Build Reading Skills – Expand literacy-focused after-school and summer enrichment programs designed to increase reading skills and close the literacy achievement gap.
Improve Math Proficiency – Support continuous learning, problem-solving and practice in math; utilize engaging and hands-on methods of experiencing math, science and technology.
School Transition – Prepare students, families, schools, and communities to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, and relationships to assist young people in successfully moving from one grade level to another. And also to assist them in transitioning from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, and high school to post-secondary education.
Strengthen Family Engagement – Foster parents’ natural leadership as their child’s first teacher, brain builder, advocate, and coach.
Learning Acceleration – Strategically prepare students for success in the present— (i.e., this week, on this content) rather than concentrating on a list of items that students have failed to master. Past concepts and skills are addressed, but always in the purposeful context of future learning. Acceleration jump-starts underperforming students into learning new concepts before their classmates even begin. Rather than being stuck in the remedial slow lane, students move ahead of everyone into the fast lane of learning.
Access to Quality Out of School Time – Offer high-quality after-school and summer learning programs that: help close educational and opportunity gaps, support the positive development of the whole child and offer key strategies to improving child well-being.
Contextualizing Learning – Teach students the content in a context (i.e., embedding the concepts in meaningful activities and in a scenario to which the student can relate) to enhance their understanding and make the concepts more relatable.