The Somali Community of Middle Tennessee set out to start an in-home tutoring program, The
English Language Intervention Program, in 2022. After many months of zoom learning in 2021,
we saw many from our community falling behind in foundational language skills that were
disrupted due to COVID 19.

This program was intended to address this need and to bring together local volunteers and
Somali refugees through an one-to-one, in-home reading course that reinforces fundamental
language skills. We set out achieve this vision through the following goals:

GOALS
1. Introduce at-risk English Language Learner (ELL) with trained volunteers.
2. Use Foundational Literacy Skills Plan (FLSP) curriculum to reinforce basic reading
fundamentals weekly.
3. Provide one-to-one application of program and track the student’s progress.
4. Empower parents to be involved in their child’s education.
5. Help parents learn English alongside their child or children.
6. Act as an intermediary; consulting with parent on how to help the student in their
individual English language journey.

With those goals in site, we mobilized and trained 9 local volunteers to work in three Somali
households throughout Nashville. Our program took place between March 01, 2022 – May 24,
2022.

Because we came to their home, two mothers were also able to participate in the language
program alongside their children.This made the program inclusive and empowering for parents.
Not only did they receive private tutoring for an hour a week in their homes, they learned more
about the education process in the United States and what their child experiences while
learning. And their child witnessed his or her mother’s progress!

This program worked congruently with the Nashville Metro School System’s curriculum: The
Foundational Literacy Skills Plan. This curriculum is used in every Metro school and is backed
with the TN Department of Education’s stamp of approval. Not only do we know this curriculum
produces results, we were able to support what the students were learning in school by
sessions outside of the classroom.

As an added bonus, our program was very cost efficient. All of the tutors and the director of the
program generously gave their services for free. Costs included: Training day meals for
volunteers, volunteer background checks, tutoring supplies and end-of-program party costs.

RESULTS
In three short months, 12 weeks, we saw students grow tremendously! There are things we can
measure by their test scores as well as testimonies from the student’s themselves, their parent’s
and teachers.

TESTIMONIES
A first grade girl Samia,* scored within a dyslexic range upon the outset of the program. Within
the first three sessions with this child, our program director was able to see that this child was
not dyslexic but that she had learned key phonics skills incorrectly. By the end of our program,
Samia was testing within normal 1st grade levels and increased her letter sound awareness
score by 25%.

Another first grade student, Abdul,* was falling behind in school. During our time with him in his
home, it was clear that Abdul might benefit from extra learning interventions. We are in the
process of helping Abdul’s mother pursue further testing for further interventions involving his
teachers and doctors. Without these specific interventions, Abdul might continue to fall further
behind.

A Kindergarten girl, Khadra,* improved by 38% in her letter sounds during the program. Her
teacher commented that Khadra used to hide in her seat when called upon to read. However,
during the span of our program Khadra gained confidence in her reading skills and was now
raising her hand to read aloud in class.

SCORES
Khadra was able to read three words correctly in one minute at the onset of testing. After
completing our program she was able to read 25 words correctly. That’s a 88% increase from
when we started! This same student had a 38% increase in her letter sounds at the end of the
program; she went from being able to identify 21 letter sounds (within one minute) to 34 letter
sounds.

All of the participating students scored below their grade level in March at the outset of the
program. From among the students who completed the program, all but one student (possible
learning disabilities) scored at grade-level or above grade-level by the end of the program in
May.

PROGRAM EVALUATION
Considering the scores, the volunteer happiness, the testimonies and cost of this program, we
at Somali Community of Middle Tennessee see our first year of our English Language
Intervention program – a huge success.

The program was absolutely free because of the State’s curriculum and the volunteer hours put
into it. The only cost was the end-of-year celebration which SOMCOM board generously
provided for us.

In the future, we hope to grow this program in the number of students tutored, the number of
volunteers trained, and from just a spring program to a spring and summer program.

***Names have been changed for the security of our students.
***Report written by Emily Heinkel, SOMCOM Education Chair.