A Powerful Partnership
The Southeast Community Foundation (SCF) is a SELA-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing educational inequities through “high-dose” tutoring. SCF’s organizers are teachers, tutors, and residents from Southeast Los Angeles deeply committed to improving the communities they call home. SCF’s partner, Innovate Public Schools (IPS), is an advocacy organization working to ensure all families have access to high-quality schools. Similarly, IPS trains parents and community leaders in South LA to advocate for better educational opportunities, empowering them to drive change in their local schools. In addition to advocacy, IPS provides data-driven insights, publishing reports that shed light on disparities in school performance across districts.
Together, SCF and IPS are tackling both challenges facing individual students as well as inequities in the wider education system. SCF offers direct academic support through tutoring programs, while IPS amplifies the voices of parents and community leaders to advocate for broader, systemic change. By combining these efforts, the partnership provides students with immediate support while working toward long-term solutions to improving educational outcomes.
Addressing Learning Loss in SELA
The SELA region has long faced significant educational challenges, with elementary Math and English proficiency scores trailing behind the rest of Los Angeles County. Even before the pandemic, only 12 out of 89 LAUSD schools in SELA met statewide standards in English and Math. Over the last four years, families in SELA have been fighting to improve their schools, and the urgency of this work has only increased in the wake of pandemic-related learning loss.
In response, through grant support from the California Community Foundation (CCF) administered by the SELA Collaborative, SCF and IPS have developed a “two-pronged” strategy to address these challenges. This approach combines “high-dosage” tutoring with parent advocacy for district-funded enrichment programs. High-dosage tutoring, defined as at least 25 hours of small-group instruction over a school year, has been shown to deliver four to fifteen months of additional learning. Beyond academic gains, it also bolsters students’ confidence and self-esteem.
To support these efforts, SCF also launched a parent engagement program, hosting events across SELA to educate families about existing tutoring resources and teach them how to advocate for increased school funding. So far, SCF has engaged over 50 parents. Concurrently, IPS has established three Parent Leadership Teams across LAUSD to champion parent advocacy and hold the district accountable for expanding access to tutoring services and forming partnerships with external providers.
Ensuring Future Success
By combining grassroots advocacy with academic interventions, SCF and IPS are not only addressing the immediate needs of students but also fostering systemic change that will benefit future generations. Their collaborative efforts ensure that families have both the tools and the voice to create lasting improvements in their schools. As they continue to expand their reach and refine their strategies, they are laying the foundation for a future where every student in SELA has the opportunity to succeed academically.
The Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) Collaborative is a network of organizations working together to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit sector and increase civic engagement in Southeast LA. Founded in 2011 by eleven core organizations, the Collaborative seeks to revitalize the communities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Florence-Firestone, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood, South Gate, Vernon, and Walnut Park.
These grantee vignettes highlight the work and impact of individual Collaborative members, each of whom have a long history of serving and advocating in partnership with residents of Southeast Los Angeles. Read more about the SELA region here.
Author
Emily Phillips
Emily (she/her) is the Project Specialist at Neighborhood Data for Social Change. Emily received her Master in Public Policy with a specialization in advocacy communications from the USC Price School in the Spring of 2024. Prior to relocating to Southern California, Emily grew up in Phoenix and then obtained her BA in Political Science and Global Studies from Loyola University Chicago. Her main focus incudes policy advocacy across a variety of policy areas including housing, health, and racial justice. She is passionate about community engagement and social impact.
Sources
Innovate Public Schools. (2024, May). High-impact tutoring: Family and caregiver toolkit. https://innovateschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/High-Impact-Tutoring-Family-and-Caregiver-Toolkit.pdf
