Title I, Part A
Support for schools serving students from low-income families.
View funding source ↗Illinois · Schools & districts
High-impact tutoring for Illinois schools.
Live, small-group virtual tutoring in K–12 math and ELA. Connect Illinois’ literacy and numeracy plans with focused instruction, student discussion, and targeted support that builds on classroom learning.
A closer look at Illinois
Your state’s priorities.
Your students’ next steps.
What Illinois is prioritizing
State priorities.
Focused support.
Explicit literacy instruction. Mathematical understanding, fluency, and discourse. Targeted support that responds to student evidence and stays connected with strong classroom teaching.
Official sources checked November 5, 2026
01Literacy. Make the next skill clear.
Illinois’ emphasis
The Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan emphasizes explicit, systematic instruction across seven components, from oral language and word recognition to comprehension and writing. Strong core instruction is the starting point, with differentiation and intervention responding to learner needs.
The Cignition connection
Share the specific reading or writing need and the materials your school uses. Review proposed tutoring lessons for the intended skill, grade level, and language demands. Agree on what student work and progress information will help your team plan the next step.
02Numeracy. Connect understanding and explanation.
Illinois’ emphasis
Illinois’ new Comprehensive Numeracy Plan brings together conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, problem solving, reasoning, mathematical confidence, and discourse. It encourages evidence-based classroom instruction and locally designed support for students who need more.
The Cignition connection
Use a mathematical idea as the starting point. Review how visual models, purposeful questions, and student discussion can help learners explain and connect strategies. Keep prerequisite support tied to the classroom learning goal.
03Intervention. Keep the learning connected.
Illinois’ emphasis
Illinois’ literacy and numeracy plans emphasize local needs, student evidence, and coherent instruction. Both connect strong core teaching with targeted support. A separate intervention should contribute to the school’s learning sequence rather than fragment it.
The Cignition connection
Identify the learning need, recurring tutoring time, and people who will review progress. Share classroom context and student work, then decide together how tutoring will reinforce instruction and when support should change.
Our curriculum. Your instructional goals.
From a learning target
to student thinking.
Start with the skill your students need next. Connect the learning goal, the task, and the explanation that shows how a student is thinking.
The Illinois connection · A closer look at instruction
From a learning need to the work students do.
Illinois’s emphasis on explicit literacy instruction and mathematical reasoning provides context for reviewing this sample. Examine how a learner connects sounds and print, responds to prompts, and practices a foundational reading skill.
Compare the task and prerequisites with your classroom sequence and student work.
Explore a sample lesson
Elementary literacy
ELA · K–5 sample. Open the student lesson to examine the tasks for yourself.
Open the elementary literacy sample ↗
What should we look for?
Consider how a learner connects sounds and print, responds to prompts, and practices a foundational reading skill. Which responses would help your team decide what the student understands and what to teach next?
How would this connect with our curriculum?
Compare the learning goal, task, language, and prerequisites with your classroom materials. Your school’s learning sequence and the students’ starting points guide that discussion.
How should we use this example?
This grade-band sample illustrates selected instruction. It has not been customized for Illinois and is not a comprehensive state standards alignment. For a specific alignment question, share the standard and classroom materials with our team.
Inside a school partnership
A shared plan.
People to keep
it moving.
Cignition brings live virtual instruction, purpose-built lessons, a dedicated program manager, and participation and learning information. For example, an Illinois school could connect supplemental reading time with classroom instruction and the specific skills shown in student work. Your school provides protected time, technology, and local support. This is a planning illustration; service eligibility and the agreed scope shape any partnership.
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Turn the instructional need into a workable plan.
Your school team
Identify the students and reading or math goals, share classroom and screening information, and protect recurring time. Your team names an onsite contact and checks devices, connectivity, and the proposed use of school funds.
The Cignition team
Your program manager coordinates planning with your school. Cignition prepares tutor assignments, small groups, instructional materials, and launch arrangements around your Illinois school’s explicit literacy instruction and mathematical reasoning.
Keep the session focused and students connected.
Your school team
Help students join on time, maintain a supervised learning space, and support participation or connection issues. Classroom teachers continue core instruction; tutoring provides additional targeted learning time.
The Cignition team
Experienced, carefully vetted tutors lead live virtual instruction using Cignition’s purpose-built curriculum, questions, models, and discussion. They respond to student work and record attendance, participation, and learning information.
Use the information. Keep the conversation going.
Your school team
Share classroom observations and school assessment context, review participation with your onsite contact, and identify questions about student learning or the routine.
The Cignition team
Your program manager shares participation and learning information and coordinates follow-up. Cignition’s instructional and implementation teams use that information with your school to consider grouping, learning targets, or scheduling adjustments.
Illinois funding landscape
Understand the investment.
Find a relevant pathway.
Explore Title I-A, Illinois’ Evidence-Based Funding, and current state and federal after-school awards. Start with the learning need, then confirm the eligible students, approved use, and local balance.
Selected federal funding for Illinois
FY 2026 · Published statewide awards
Title II, Part A
Educator effectiveness and instructional capacity.
View funding source ↗Title III, Part A
English-language acquisition and support for English learners.
View funding source ↗21st Century Community Learning Centers
Academic enrichment during non-school hours.
View funding source ↗Read the ILLINOIS row and Fiscal Year 2026 column in each federal award table. Links highlight the row in supporting browsers. These are statewide allocations, not unspent local funds or a dedicated tutoring budget. Title II generally supports educator capacity. Confirm your district’s allocation, allowable use, and available balance before planning an expense.
Illinois funding pathways
Funding reviewed November 10, 2026Additional instruction.
Start with the school’s plan.
Ongoing federal formula funding · Approved local use required
Who / what it supports
Illinois’ Title I-A program supports students who are struggling, or are most at risk of struggling, to meet state academic standards. Eligible schools operate schoolwide programs or targeted assistance.
Where tutoring could fit
Consider supplemental math or literacy instruction that addresses the school’s identified needs. Match the proposed service to the program model, eligible students, and approved school and district plans.
Practical next step: Ask your federal programs lead to confirm the activity, staff qualifications, available balance, required reservations, purchasing, and documentation. Statewide awards do not establish a local tutoring budget.
Review Illinois’ Title I-A guidance ↗A state funding route.
A local spending decision.
FY 2027 district allocations · Confirm the local spending plan
Who / what it supports
Illinois’ Evidence-Based Funding formula supports district educational needs. Funds for English learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students carry student-population requirements; the broader funding stream allows local spending decisions.
Where tutoring could fit
A district can consider targeted academic support within its local budget and spending plan. The formula’s intervention-teacher categories refer to licensed teachers, so confirm staffing requirements and the correct expense classification before committing funds.
Practical next step: Review the district’s current allocation, approved spending plan, student-population restrictions, actual available balance, and procurement process. EBF is ongoing district funding, not a separate tutoring grant or automatic vendor approval.
Review Illinois’ EBF spending plan guidance ↗More learning time.
Use an eligible district award.
FY 2027 After School Programs · Listed districts and schools only
Who / what it supports
Illinois’ state After School Programs funding includes formula allocations for eligible school districts. Activities take place outside the normal school day and combine academic improvement with enrichment in a safe environment.
Where tutoring could fit
An eligible district with an approved award can review tutoring as an academic component of its wider program. Instructional staff and program materials must fit the approved goals, budget, and grant rules.
Practical next step: Check the FY 2027 eligible district and school list, then confirm the approved award, participants, available funds, staffing, and purchasing. This describes the district formula route, not an open competitive application.
Review Illinois’ current after-school funding ↗Academic support.
Part of a wider program.
Current Illinois 21st CCLC awardees only
Who / what it supports
21st Century Community Learning Centers support academic enrichment during non-school hours, along with broader enrichment and family learning opportunities. Illinois maintains resources for its current grantees.
Where tutoring could fit
A current grantee can consider tutoring within its approved program and budget, connected with students’ school-day learning. Confirm how the service fits the award’s academic goals and other required activities.
Practical next step: Coordinate with the existing grantee on eligible students, program schedule, staffing, remaining funds, and procurement. This is a current-award funding route, not an open application or a grant available to every school.
Explore resources for Illinois’ current grantees ↗Illinois · Program fit & purchasing
Start with fit.
Plan the details.
Work through the requirements of the funding route before choosing a service. For Title I-A, connect the activity with the school’s program and approved plan. For Evidence-Based Funding, review the local spending plan and any student-population restrictions. The formula’s intervention-teacher categories describe licensed teachers, so confirm the appropriate staffing and expense classification with your district.
For an existing after-school award, confirm the eligible participants, non-school-hour schedule, wider program, and approved budget.
Review the proposed staff, materials, contract, and student-data protections with your district. A funding route does not establish state approval of a provider or curriculum.
A few useful questions
What would you like to work through?
Start here, then bring the questions specific to your students and school.
How would tutoring connect with our literacy plan?
Start with your district’s instructional approach, student evidence, and the skill learners need next. Review proposed Cignition lessons for their content, sequence, and language demands. Agree on how tutoring information will support your school’s decisions. Illinois’ literacy plan emphasizes strong core teaching, with intervention and differentiation responding to student needs.
Does the Numeracy Plan require a specific program?
No. ISBE’s July 2026 FAQ says the Numeracy Plan does not require a specific curriculum, program, or instructional model. ISBE encourages districts and schools to develop a local approach informed by the guidance and their own data. Review proposed tutoring against your school’s standards, materials, and learning goals.
Could Evidence-Based Funding support tutoring?
It may be a route for a district to consider within its local budget and spending plan. Confirm the intended students, any student-population restrictions, available funds, and purchasing rules. EBF’s intervention-teacher cost factors describe licensed teachers; they are not automatic permission to classify an outside tutoring service in that category.
Which after-school funding routes are described here?
The state After School Programs district formula route and federal 21st CCLC are separate programs. The first requires an eligible listed district or school and an approved award. The second applies to current grantees with an approved program and budget. Tutoring must fit the relevant program’s goals, participants, schedule, and requirements. Neither pathway above is presented as an open grant competition.
What should we review before virtual sessions begin?
Agree on learning goals, student groups, recurring session time, and school contacts. Review proposed lessons, assigned tutor qualifications, progress communication, purchasing, and student-data protections. Students need reliable devices, connectivity, audio, and a supervised learning space. For a grant-funded program, confirm that the arrangement fits the award and approved budget.
What if I’m looking for help for my own child?
This page focuses on school and district partnerships. For tutoring arranged directly by a family, explore Cignition’s family plans and discuss your child’s learning goals, grade level, and scheduling needs.
Your school’s next step
Let’s plan around
your students.
Planning around explicit literacy instruction and mathematical reasoning? Request curriculum examples, implementation details, evidence, or funding information for your Illinois school before deciding whether to book a call.
On our contact page, choose “Another question” for an information request or “School or district tutoring” to explore a program.