April 10, 2013

Online Academic Coaching course now available for schools, for-profit providers and individuals

by Nalini Lasiewicz, Crossroads of Learning

Crossroads of Learning recently launched an online course in Academic Coaching. The course is self-paced and accessed directly through the internet, taking an estimated 5-7 weeks. The cost is $209.00, all materials included. The curriculum is also available in workbook format, to be used in face-to-face training and professional development programs for peer and professional academic coaches, tutors or advisers. The Academic Coaching workbooks are available to organizations who organize trainings by approved trainers, either internal staff who have completed the Train-the-Trainer program from Crossroads of Learning or certified Master Tutor Trainers from the National Tutoring Association (NTA).

Sandra Clayton-Emmerson of the Center for Academic Success at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York was one of the first to complete the course. She stated, “I found the training absolutely outstanding! I was introduced to new concepts that were specific to one-on-one coaching.” When asked about her experience with an online learning program, she added, “everything was seamless in terms of how it all went together. The readings with links to outside readings and websites really worked, the assignments following the readings made perfect sense and I was able to reach my mentor anytime I needed to.”

The course helps learning support and academic coaching personnel support the goal-setting, critical thinking, cultural awareness and emotional intelligence development of students, dealing with the entire learning path of being a student. Academic coaching builds on the fundamental skills of tutoring, which is why the Academic Coaching course has a prerequisite of the successful completion of the Crossroads of Learning Tutoring Foundations Basic (or Comprehensive) training level. A skilled tutor can help a student become a better learner. A skilled academic coach can help students identify and verbalize the answers to not just academic questions, but about setting and obtaining goals far into the future.

Click here to read more.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,Blog,Coaching,College,Crossroads of Learning,High School,NTA (National Tutoring Association),Small Private Practices,Training/Education

March 31, 2013

School board nixes same school teacher tutoring

Editor’s Note:

This controversy has been brewing for months. The Crossroads of Learning Journal curated an article on 2/16/13, concerning a hearing in December of 2012 which resulted in the teacher’s union taking a position on school teacher tutoring being appropriate. [ Click here to read previous article.]

The following story was written by Dan Glaun, The Island Now, originally published on 3/14/13

The Great Neck Public School Board banned private tutoring between teachers and students within their buildings at Monday night’s meeting, capping months of debate between advocates concerned about potential conflicts of interest and opponents who said the change would harm students. Trustee and policy committee chair Susan Healy acknowledged in a statement the concerns of parents who use private tutors but argued that the change was necessary to guard against the appearance of favoritism or unfairness.

“The prohibition on tutoring students in one’s own building is directly related to the appearance of a conflict of interest,” Healy said. “We do not do so because there are inappropriate situations. We do it so that those situations cannot occur.”

The policy, which was approved unanimously following the fourth public hearing on the topic since September, expands the district’s tutoring restrictions from teachers and students within the same class to those within the same building. The board and several administrators and teachers who testified in favor of the change said the move was necessary to avoid placing teachers in compromising situations, creating the perception of unfairness and corrupting the teacher-parent relationship with money.

To read more click here.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed under: Commercial Providers,Government,High School,Small Private Practices,Test Prep,Tutoring Practices

February 16, 2013

Teachers say no to tutoring limits

by Dan Glaun, The Island Now-Great Neck

Union comes out against policy

Great Neck Teachers Association President Sheila Scimone presented a letter to the board of education voicing opposition to the tutoring restrictions.

The Great Neck Teachers Association abandoned its neutral stance on proposed restrictions on private tutoring by Great Neck teachers with full-throated opposition at Monday’s board of education meeting. The teachers association had until Monday remained agnostic on the proposal, which would prohibit teachers from tutoring students who attend classes within the same building, citing divisions in teacher opinion.

But Association President Scheila Scimone said a November survey of teachers had revealed a growing consensus against the change and spurred the union to stake out a position. “[The Great Neck Teachers Association] believes that the policy, as it stands now, allows for tutoring that is extremely supportive of our students. We cannot see any benefit to them that would result from a change; therefore we urge the board to drop its proposed revision of the policy on tutoring,” wrote Scimone in a letter to the board.

Existing policy already prohibits teachers from tutoring students in their classes. The proposal, which is on its second reading and was subject to a lengthy debate at the Oct. 15 board meeting, has been touted by advocates as a means of preventing the appearance of favoritism that could result from teachers and students within the same building establishing monetary relationships.

According to Scimone, the benefits of the existing tutoring system are significant and questions of favoritism or unfair advantage are mitigated by the professionalism of Great Neck teachers. “Teachers who tutor privately are deeply committed to providing their students with the scaffolding they will need in order to become independent learners,” wrote Scimone. “They see themselves are bridges between home and school, and they believe that they can be most effective in this role when they have first-hand, personal knowledge of what their students daily experience of school is.”

To read more click here.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Filed under: Small Private Practices

October 5, 2012

Smart Peers Thrust of New Tutoring Service

by James Lomuscio, WestportNow.com, originally published on 7/28/2012

What if your child’s tutor not only knew the subject well, but but had taken the very same class with the same teacher and knew the classroom and school dynamic to boot? Those ideas came to Greg Lewis, a 2011 graduate of Westport’s Staples High School, during his senior year. This past year at Amherst College, the 19-year-old economics major thought about it long and hard.

Driven by the entrepreneurial spirit, Lewis and close friend Gabe Schindler, also a 2011 Staples graduate, teamed up this summer to launch a business that does just that, linking high school students who do well with those who could benefit from their expertise. Their venture is called Pencil Warrior, their website http://www.pencilwarrior.com. “The page is still completely under-construction and in ‘beta’, although the aesthetics and programming will be complete within the next few days,” says Schindler.

To date, they have amassed a mix of 50 high performing students, not to mention star athletes, who can offer help in both the classroom and on the playing field. “What we are is a platform for the Westport community,” says Schindler, a fine arts major at the University of Michigan. “We created a website that allows students to share their successes in their community. It’s for high school level students who can become a mentor in their community.

To read more click here.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Filed under: Small Private Practices

February 24, 2012

The $1,000-an-hour Super Tutor

by Will Orr-Ewing, London Evening Standard, originally published 1/5/12

London tutor Will Orr-Ewing meets his American counterparts who charge as much as lawyers and finds out how they are revolutionising the profession…

In recent years, London’s private tutors have been enjoying a turn in the spotlight. Articles describing tutoring’s more glamorous features – from Gwyneth Paltrow’s search for a “multilingual all-round genius” to Tatler magazine’s showcasing of London’s top “supertutors” – convey the impression of an exalted profession with high standards and rigorous codes of practice. The reality is quite the opposite.

The London tutor is still characterised by his amateurism. Most tutors in London lack training, an established curriculum of methods and materials and a long-term commitment to the vocation. For many well-educated and ambitious practitioners, tutoring remains a part-time job, a stop-gap between university and more lucrative or prestigious occupations.

In New York, tutoring is conceived of differently. To become a tutor is to choose a career, and it is a career choice as revered as other esteemed and competitive fields. Having been featured in the Tatler article myself and having already made important strides towards professionalising London’s private tutoring industry, I went to New York to try to understand the key differences in our approaches.

To read more click here.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed under: Business Practices,Small Private Practices

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April 10, 2013

Online Academic Coaching course now available for schools, for-profit providers and individuals

March 31, 2013

School board nixes same school teacher tutoring

February 16, 2013

Teachers say no to tutoring limits

October 5, 2012

Smart Peers Thrust of New Tutoring Service

February 24, 2012

The $1,000-an-hour Super Tutor