THE LATEST MCAS scores are definitely alarming.Scores are significantly below pre-pandemic levels. At current trends, it would take at least eight years for Massachusetts students to catch up. Here at home, Boston Public Schools (BPS) students performed below the Massachusetts average across all grade levels and all subjects measured by the exam—and Black, Latino, and other marginalized student communities fared worse than their White and Asian counterparts.

These results echo findings reported last year by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In the “Nation’s Report Card,” students in Boston—and across Massachusetts—hit their lowest achievement levels in more than a decade. Black and Latino students, low-income students, and English language learners again saw some of the steepest declines.

But for Black and Latino students, the forecast predicts longer-term struggles. A 2023 report by The Boston Foundation and the Boston Private Industry Council found steep declines in college-going rates in 2020 and 2021 for Black and Latino students compared to White and Asian students. NAEP’s most recently reported national writing assessment found that 90 percent of Black and Hispanic/Latino students were not writing at grade-level proficiency.

It’s clear our educational system is failing Black and Latino youth, and the pandemic has only made it worse. The challenge now lies in working together to implement urgent solutions. Despite additional federal and state funding, our schools remain under-resourced and unprepared to meet the needs of post-pandemic students—many of whom are in need of individualized instruction, mental health support, and social-emotional learning.

One way to help narrow the achievement gap faced by Black and Latino students is to invest in programs that support educators and offer personalized instruction. As the Boston Globe reported last fall, “researchers have touted ‘high-dosage tutoring’—one-on-one or small-group instruction multiple times per week for at least half an hour—as a leading strategy.”

As the executive director of 826 Boston, a writing, tutoring, and publishing organization supporting Boston Public Schools students since 2007, I’ve seen the power of this approach. Our team works with more than 3,000 K-12 students every year, with 94 percent of students identifying as students of color. A new study just released shows that when students have access to quality writing programs, there are significant gains in learning. Black and African-American students saw their writing scores jump 12 percent over the course of a year and 85 percent of 826 Boston parents noticed grade improvements across subjects.

These programs don’t just boost academics, they boost confidence, too. In 2021, 826 Boston partnered with Becoming A Man at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School to publish a book on becoming a Black man in America today. Students were mentored by Black men, who encouraged them to stand in their truth and write about their unique experiences of being young and Black in America. The project not only provided an opportunity for Black students to form positive bonds and strengthen their writing skills, it also created an opportunity for them to amplify their voices and stories. By the numbers, 93 percent of students expressed that they felt more confident in their writing after receiving support from 826 Boston, and 100 percent of parents felt their child was more prepared to take on new or challenging work.

Programs like 826 Boston—providing personalized instruction for students and extra support for teachers—can help students catch up while we advocate for meaningful systemic change. Community problems require community solutions, and it will take a village—and a lot of hard work—to respond to the growing disparities faced by today’s youth. But I know we’re up for the challenge.

Corey Yarbrough is the executive director of 826 Boston, a writing, tutoring, and publishing organization.