The Ignite Fellowship Provides Tutors to Support Math Acceleration for Houston Area
Students Through Small Virtual Cohorts
Houston, Texas, Oct. 3, 2024—Education nonprofit Teach For America Houston announced the fourth year of its tutoring program, the Ignite Fellowship. The tutoring fellowship supports a total of two schools across Étoile Academy Charter Schools; Étoile Bissonnet and Étoile Hornwood. The expansion was made possible through the generous support of Étoile Academy Charter Schools.
The Ignite Fellowship, launched in Houston in 2021, begins its fourth school year at Étoile Academy Charter Schools. Through the Ignite program, Teach For America recruits college students to partner directly with local schools and students to lead small-group learning.
Each fellow works with 1-3 students, meeting in virtual learning communities during school hours.
Since its 2021 launch in Houston, the program has shown promising results:
➔ 87% of students stated they enjoyed their Ignite sessions
➔ 100% of schools reported that students grew in academic learning
➔ 100% of schools reported that students grew in engagement
In addition to the 20 fellows currently working with two Houston schools this fall, another 20 fellows will join in the spring, bringing the total to 40 fellows serving students across the community. Designed to accelerate learning and foster belonging with students, Ignite builds on TeachFor America’s over 30 years of experience recruiting, developing, and supporting talent and partnering with communities across the country to help students overcome the systemic barriers to an excellent education. The Ignite Fellowship brings exceptional, equity-oriented leaders into classrooms virtually to add immediate value for students, while creating shifts toward the future of learning.
“We made a deliberate decision to anchor our Ignite program in Teach For America Houston’s 2030 goal: by 2030, twice as many children in areas we serve will reach key educational milestones, indicating that they are on a path to economic mobility and a future filled with possibility,” said Tiffany Cuellar Needham, Executive Director of the region.
“We’re excited to see Ignite take off across Houston, providing high impact tutoring to our students and providing schools and teachers with necessary classroom support,” Needham shared.
Research shows that tutoring, particularly in-school tutoring, is one of the most effective tools available to improve students’ academic outcomes. Teach For America Houston focuses on Math based on the predictive power of those outcomes as they relate to future academic and life opportunities. The Ignite program is also layering an additional focus on student wellbeing and engagement, including growth mindsets, belonging, and self-efficacy.
Fellows receive ongoing training from Teach For America and their schools to accelerate student learning, with students’ academic and personal growth measured through school-based assessments and surveys.
“We are truly thrilled to have Ignite TFA as a partner. As a school that serves 85% emergent bilingual students we are always looking for opportunities to increase tutoring and academic support for students’” shared Kayleigh Colombero, Superintendent of Étoile Academy Charter School. “Having passionate, smart college students working one on one with our students will greatly increase their learning and language acquisition. We are so grateful to have this support.”
Teach For America Houston is thankful for the partnership with Étoile Academy Charter Schools, along with a groundswell of community support and generosity that has allowed the Ignite Fellowship to grow and impact students.
About Teach For America Houston
Teach For America Houston works in partnership with local districts and charter schools to expand educational opportunities for children. Founded in Houston in 1991, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Today, TFA Houston is a force of over 2,200 alumni and corps members impacting more than 31,000 students in pursuit of profound systemic change. From classroom to systems-level positions, their leaders are reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, lead, thrive, and co-create a future filled with possibility. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org/houston and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.