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By Walecia Konrad – October 2007 Issue of Good Housekeeping.
Editor’s Note:
Tutoring professionals understand that the most successful tutoring outcomes result from a collaborative process involving students, teachers and parents who are well informed. The following article: “Does Your Child Need a Tutor?” helps tutors provide the essential information parents need to choose the right services for their child.
How to tell—and where to find the best help.
It wasn’t just her daughter’s dropping grades that disturbed Joyce Present, a 48-year-old caterer in suburban Detroit. She was tired of the fights. Ten-year-old Noelle was having trouble mastering fourth-grade math, falling behind and feeling so frustrated that getting her to do her homework at all had become a nightly battle. “I was losing my mind, and I wasn’t doing Noelle any good, either,” says Present. “It was time to get help.”
Present hired a tutor for Noelle, and after about three months of weekly sessions, the math grade on the girl’s report card jumped from a C to an A. The next year, fifth-grade math came easily for Noelle—she averaged a B—and the fights are ancient history.
At least 10 percent of American students, from kindergarten through high school, turn to tutors—either solo practitioners or those affiliated with learning centers—for extra assistance, according to Edward Gordon, Ph.D., education consultant and author of Tutor Quest: Finding Effective Education for Children and Adults. And he estimates that twice that many kids need help. “The No Child Left Behind policies and high-stakes testing have increased the pressure on kids to keep up and pushed parents to seek outside help more frequently than ever before,” says Richard Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education at Sylvan Learning Center, a nationwide tutoring-services chain. Research suggests that tutoring—which gives kids one-on-one attention, individualized explanations and pacing, and the freedom to answer questions without being embarrassed about making mistakes in front of peers—does improve academic achievement, says Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D., professor of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Could your child benefit from extra help? Here’s how to find out—and what to do if the answer is yes.
WHEN TO GET A TUTOR
Your child’s teacher may tell you directly that she needs help. But there are other tip-offs: low test scores, homework full of errors, antipathy toward a certain subject or school in general, decreased self-esteem. “When your child is trying her hardest but still can’t pick up on what the teacher is covering and can’t get a grade higher than a C or a D, then it’s time to turn to a tutor,” advises Linda Gygax, a tutor (and mom) from Greenfield, WI.
Kids themselves are not always the best judges of when they need tutoring. Some may even balk at the idea. When then 13-year-old Stephanie Bonja, of Brooklyn, came home in tears after she failed her first test ever, her mother, Marcella Scire, suggested a math tutor. “She said to me, ‘You must think I’m really stupid!’” Scire recalls. “I told her that sometimes it can help to have someone else teach the material.” Stephanie’s feelings changed after her initial assessment at the tutoring center, which showed that she had some very specific problems but otherwise was working at or above grade level. Pinpointing her trouble spots helped give Stephanie the confidence to see that she had the intelligence to overcome them.
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT
First, meet with your child’s teacher, who’s most likely to know what skills your kid needs to work on and whether a tutor is the best option—or if getting help from a peer or a homework club (an inexpensive after-school group study and tutoring session) might suffice. She’ll often have ideas about what specific qualifications the tutor ought to have, and may even be able to recommend one.
Most independent tutors are local teachers or other education professionals who can meet with your child after school or on weekends, often in your home, to give her additional instruction in a particular subject. They charge anywhere from $30 to $150 an hour, and most expect to work with a child for about 25 hours (usually twice a week for three or so months), although they may need longer. Fortunately, many schools, as well as local libraries and community centers, offer professional tutoring services at lower rates or even for free. “Parents should always exhaust all the services their school or community has to offer their children before going to a paid tutor,” recommends Jim Giovannini, a former certified teacher and the founder and current president of Academic Tutoring Centers in suburban Chicago.
There are two types of learning centers: independents, which are usually run by a group of former educators, and big national franchise chains, like Huntington and Sylvan Learning centers. Both kinds generally offer individualized tutoring, as well as test-prep courses and group tutoring (which can work well for kids who don’t need intensive one-on-one assessment and attention). Learning centers charge an average of $50 an hour; the fee varies depending on where you live.
Either private tutors or learning centers can help most children, but each has its own strengths. Learning centers, because they cull nationwide curricula from many different sources, may provide fresher, more challenging material than an independent tutor. Local tutors, however, sometimes have the inside track
on the standards and test schedules at your child’s school. One New York City mom hired a private math tutor for her ninth-grade daughter specifically because he was so familiar with the girl’s high school. “He knows how high the expectations are, when the tests will be, and what she should focus on, which is a huge help,” she says. Bear in mind, though, that learning centers may also have close ties to area schools.
Most tutors follow the same process to design a program for a child, says Gordon. They begin by asking him questions (written, oral, or a combination) to assess how well he understands the material, where his gaps are, and why he may be having trouble—including whether emotional or social issues such as anxiety about standardized tests might be hindering his progress. Then the tutor will develop a comprehensive plan to help the child overcome these obstacles, catch up, and learn the study skills to keep up on his own.
Take Steven Byrd of Belleville, MI. He was a bright kid, but as he began sixth grade, he was clearly falling behind his classmates. When his mom had him evaluated at a local learning center, it turned out he had reading-comprehension problems that affected his performance across the board. His tutor focused on improving Steven’s reading skills, with strategies as simple as asking him to repeat any new information she gave him so that they’d both be sure he understood it. After only a few months, Steven’s grades rose significantly, as did his confidence—which showed that the tutoring worked, says Giovannini. “If you don’t see improvement in your child’s self-
esteem after four or five sessions,” he adds, “you may need a new tutor.”
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A TUTOR
Here’s what the experts suggest:
Ask if the tutor is a state-certified teacher in the relevant subject area. Certification ensures that she’s met defined professional standards. It’s a plus if she has also been certified by the National Tutors Association (for details, visit ntatutor.org).
Check specific qualifications. Make sure the tutor’s background and experience match your child’s needs. And try to find someone who has worked with his age-group before, Gygax recommends.
Ask for references—either letters of referral or the names of satisfied parents you can contact to check your tutor’s track record.
Consider whether the tutor seems to have a genuine interest in your child. “When I was learning to tutor, one of my professors gave us a one-question quiz: What color were the child’s eyes?” says Shanahan. “Despite working one-on-one with the kids, we often hadn’t paid enough attention to them as individuals—and that’s important.”
Evaluate the tutor’s rapport with your kid. For the first few sessions, stay nearby or in the next room to make sure their personalities click and your child is engaged, Gordon suggests. If the chemistry isn’t right, change tutors. “I’ve seen kids do badly because they had personality clashes with a teacher,” says Scire, “and that’s even more true in a one-on-one setting.”
Meet regularly. Check in with the
tutor after every two or three sessions to discuss your child’s progress and plans for the future.
Quick Fix: Online Tutoring
Easy, accessible, and inexpensive, Internet tutoring looks appealing but rarely provides the customized assessment and individualized strategies a child needs. What the Internet can do, however, is offer great
ad hoc help when your kid is in a crunch or has specific questions to resolve.
Homeworkhelp.com and Tutor.com both let your child e-mail with a tutor about general lessons or specific problems at all grade levels. Homework help.com charges $30 for one month ($175 a year) for unlimited use. Tutor.com charges by the minute: from $35 for 60 minutes up to a discounted rate of $150 for 300 minutes.
Many local libraries offer free online homework help. There are also no-fee help sites dedicated to specific subjects, like math (math.com) and geography (nationalgeographic
.com/homework).
To find a reliable site, ask your child’s teacher and other moms for recommendations. Then surf these choices with your child to find which works best for her. (Most sites that charge offer free or inexpensive trial periods.) Do some sample problems to spot-check the answers for accuracy and to make sure that the online tutor gives your child the tools to work them out for herself.
Finally, says Bob Lasiewicz, board member of the National Tutoring Association, don’t let a homework help site become a crutch. “These sites are great for thorny problems such as subtracting fractions or finding the right Spanish preposition—but if your child relies on them regularly, she may need individualized help.”
Journal Resource: Walecia Konrad, Goodhousekeeping.com Does Your Child Need a Tutor? October 2007 Issue.