Southgate Expands Tutoring Partnership with Averton City Schools

Southgate University's College of Education announced an expanded partnership with Averton City Schools that will place education majors as literacy tutors in all six of the district's elementary schools, up from two schools under a pilot program launched in 2023.

The program pairs Southgate students with small groups of second- and third-graders for weekly reading support, under the supervision of licensed classroom teachers. An internal review of the pilot found participating students gained an average of four months of reading progress over a semester.

"This partnership gives our students real classroom experience years before student teaching, and it gives Averton's kids consistent, caring adults in their corner," said Dean of Education Marcus Whitfield.

Averton City Schools Superintendent Delia Osei said the district plans to track outcomes closely as the program scales. "We've seen what this can do in two schools. We're eager to see what it does across the whole district," Osei said.