The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) announced today that it will award the New Jersey Tutoring Corps a Growing Apprenticeship in Nontraditional Sectors (GAINS) Grant to fund what will be the nation’s first tutoring apprentice program.  To promote equality of opportunity, upward mobility, and economic fairness, GAINS grants were created to encourage the expansion of US Department of Labor-approved Registered Apprenticeship programs to support better-paying careers and the attainment of advanced credentials.  The GAINS grant is part of Governor Murphy’s New Jersey Apprenticeship Network, an initiative that seeks to make the state a national leader for apprenticeship programs and provide options for all New Jerseyans to build meaningful careers across a wide range of employers.  

In conjunction with today’s funding announcement, New Jersey now provides the first registered tutoring apprentice program in the nation.  New Jersey residents interested in applying, please click HERE.

Last January, the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) formally approved the inclusion of “Tutor” to the list of occupations allowed to participate in the federal Registered Apprentice Pathway (RAP) and named the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, Inc. (NJTC) as the first tutoring provider in the country to receive this new designation.   Approved and validated by the U.S. DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship (OA), the RAPs designation is designed to create larger talent pools to meet nationwide professional demands and provide individuals working opportunities in these designated fields to extend their work beyond just a paycheck and ultimately build a career. More information on RAPs can be found at www.apprenticeship.gov. 

Specifically, the GAINS grant will provide NJTC, the nation’s first Tutor Apprenticeship Program (TAP), funding to hire more tutors to serve New Jersey public schools and address persistent student achievement gaps across the state, build a needed entry pathway for the tutors to discover their passions for education and gain college credit to access multiple education roles ultimately addressing the critical education workforce shortages in New Jersey.  Utilizing NJTC’s comprehensive tutor training model, tutors enrolled in NJTC’s Tutor Apprenticeship Program will master key instructional competencies, from building student relationships to creating and delivering effective instruction. In addition to serving as a tutor, apprentices will earn college credits with New Jersey City University.  Those who complete the program will earn a nationally recognized tutoring credential and, if they wish, will be uniquely positioned to continue their training to become a teacher through the Teacher Apprenticeship Network.  

“New Jersey is proud to launch the first tutoring apprenticeship program in the nation,” stated Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Robert Asaro-Angelo. “This pioneering initiative will foster innovative career pathways that will help to support public education and the future of our state – our students. NJDOL is thrilled to support programs that equip workers with the skills and credentials necessary to thrive in today’s dynamic workforce.”  

“The development of NJTC and our ability to scale tutoring across the state in such a short time has been an amazing success story, but being named the first Tutoring Apprenticeship in the country is a game-changer for both us and the state,” stated NJTC CEO Katherine Bassett.  “This designation – and specifically this GAINS Grant – allows us to continue growing tutoring opportunities statewide.  From the very beginning, the Murphy Administration, the NJDOL, and legislative leaders like Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Senate Education Committee Chair Vin Gopal understood the value and potential of NJTC and created a focal point for tutoring in the state.  Together, the public and private sectors, local foundations, and school districts have all collaborated to build NJTC.  We are so grateful for their support and excited to spread our value and commitment to service in the coming years. I could not be more proud of the work that NJTC’s Chief of Staff, Ashley Bencan, has done to envision and bring to life this initiative.”

“We are grateful to the New Jersey Department of Labor for investing in education occupations, such as Tutors, to show the importance of these roles.  NJTC’s Tutor apprenticeship program invests in the people behind instruction. Our program provides financial incentives, discounted tuition, and intensive coaching to master the core competencies of tutoring: Professionalism, Planning, Instruction and Environment. Katherine and I believed in this program before it existed, and we are thrilled to lead it,” stated Ashley Bencan, Chief of Staff at NJTC.

Launched during the 2022-23 school year, NJTC initially served approximately 500 scholars. Since then, it has become a needed focal point for advocating and expanding tutoring in New Jersey.  Over the last three budget cycles, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Senate Education Committee Chair Vin Gopal have been instrumental in fighting to support NJTC and, with their assistance, have scaled to serve over 12,500 scholars in 247 locations, creating 740 jobs for residents.  The most recent independent third-party evaluation showed that NJTC scholars’ grade-level performance jumped by 550% in math and 150% in literacy after just one year of NJTC tutoring. Last Fall, the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA) at Stanford University announced that NJTC had received its prestigious national “Tutoring Program Design Badge,” formally indicating that NJTC meets the highest tutoring standards and aligns with the national principles of all Tutoring Quality Standards.

Initially established by First Lady Tammy Murphy, Laura Overdeck, and anchor institutions such as the Overdeck Family Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, the Prudential Foundation, The Carlson Family Foundation, and the Debra and Kenneth Caplan Foundation, NJTC serves as a needed corrective response to the state’s dramatic learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic. NJTC’s model is co-designed with schools, districts, and community partners, ensuring its research-based, evidence-rich program meets individual partners’ needs. NJTC staff members provide responsive, personalized, hands-on instruction aligned to New Jersey state standards. Partners co-design each implementation. Tutors are often embedded in classrooms during the school day and receive support from instructional coaches and site coordinators. Tutors serve scholars in 30 to 60-minute embedded sessions during the school day, after school, or in summer programs two to three times per week. The program provides a 1:1 up to 1:3 tutor-to-scholar ratio, with the same tutor working with the same scholars throughout a program cycle, following the recommendations of the Annenberg Institute.