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The Inside
Scoop on the
Tutoring Craze
By Rebecca Tucker
and Irene Daria
The Reasons to
Consider a Tutor
Your kid is falling behind in class. In
*private
schools and competitive public
schools, this is a common occurrence.
“Private schools in New York City tend to
be two grade levels above public schools,”
said Amy Skylar, executive director of private tutoring at The Princeton Review, one
of the largest tutoring and testing companies in the country. Among other things, a
good tutor should be able to give you an
informed sense of how your child is doing
in a particular subject, whether he’s on
track to do well on a key admissions or
standardized test and whether the school
seems to be falling short in some way.
A kid also may be struggling because
she has a learning issue, she’s rebelling or
she has a poor teacher, said Lisa
Jacobson, founder of Inspirica, another
tutoring company. A rebelling child
won’t swallow help from the people she’s
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New York Family | July 2007
unhappy with, which is why an objective
third party who is not a teacher or a parent is a good idea.
Your kid is applying to a competitive
school. From the ERBs to the SATs, the
testing gamut for preschools and high
schools can be treacherous. There is also
the full gamut of college admissions tests.
Specialized tutors can “teach to the test”
to help boost your kid’s score.
You want enrichment for your kid.
Parents (and students) can be so focused
on performance and admissions issues
that they never stop to consider a tutor
for pure educational interest. A child may
want to nurture his or her interest in a
particular subject, feel more challenged
or get more individualized attention.
*
*
The Reasons to Question It
*
The work may be too advanced. Some
parents expect their children to perform
at academic levels for which they are not
ready. “Parents want their children to
know more and more, but knowing more
doesn’t make them smarter,” says Susan J.
Schwartz, the clinical coordinator of the
Institute for Learning and Academic
Achievement at New York University’s
Child Study Center. Schwartz adds that
cramming a kid’s head too full of information and not taking age-appropriate
development into account could push
him too far too fast and potentially turn
him off to learning.
*
You could be inviting burn out. Even
if there seems to be a good reason to get
a tutor, a child still has to have enough
downtime to do the things he finds fun—
like sports, video games or playing with
his friends.
A child’s homework performance can
be misleading. Trouble in one school
subject might only be a piece of an
underlying learning difficulty. Schwartz
urges parents to talk to teachers about a
child’s performance. A teacher may recommend testing for a child to see if there
is an underlying learning issue; if so, you
can hire a tutor specially trained to
address that particular problem. If your
child’s teacher says your child is doing
fine in other areas, then look for a tutor
in the specific trouble subject.
*
How do I find the right tutor?
*
Ask around for recommendations.
They should come from other parents,
your child’s school or volunteer organizations like the Parents League of New York.
Nikki Geula, president of Arete
Educational Consulting and head of the
tutors for IvyWise, advises that you ask a
tutoring company for a list of clients they
have worked with, and call at least two of
the people off that list to ask about their
experiences working with the company.
“The company should be happy to provide such a list, and if they don’t, a red
flag should go up,” said Geula.
Parents (and students) can be so
focused on performance and admissions
issues that they never stop to consider a
tutor for pure educational interest.
*
*
*
also noted that children might require
different tutors depending on the subject
they’re studying. “There might be some
kids who learn math really well from one
tutor,” she said, “but don’t like the way
they teach another subject.”
Discuss the whole price. You should
get a detailed pricing plan that includes
the number of sessions, the cost per session and miscellaneous fees for testing
*
*
*
Blue Tomato
736 Broadway, 11th Floor,
212-387-0447, www.bluetomato.us
Niche: Offers tutoring services to children in 5th through 12 grade, including
preparation for ISSE, SSAT and SAT tests.
Kumon Math & Reading Centers
1582 First Avenue, 212-717-1644,
and other Manhattan locations
Niche: Kumon, a learning program
developed 50 years ago in Japan, can
be remedial or for enrichment.
EBL Coaching
167 East 82nd Street, Suite 1A,
646-342-9380
Niche: Works with students with disabilities and mainstream students with skill
difficulties. Offers free evaluation to match
students up with the appropriate tutor.
Next Level Learning
850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1103,
212-957-9100
Niche: Next Level Learning eases academic pressures by creating a comfortable, friendly environment in which students can thrive.
Inspirica
850 Seventh Avenue, 212-245-3888
Niche: Test prep (PSATs and SATs for college entrance, SSATs and ICEEs for high
school entrance and LSATs, MCATs, GREs
and GMATs for graduate school
entrance) and one-on-one tutoring.
The Princeton Review
549 Broadway, 212-925-6447
Niche: From getting students into high
school to getting them into college: the
SAT and SATII, ACT and AP exams, as well
as college admissions coaching.
IvyWise
140 West 57th Street, 1-877-IvyWise
Niche: Offers a full range of college
admissions help, including counseling,
aide with applications, school visit planning, help with letters of recommendation and more.
Kaplan Test/Prep and Admissions
Go to www.kaptest.com for local options
or call 800-527-8378
Niche: A comprehensive provider of private
tutoring and course-based and online
preparation for standardized exams, focusing on test content and strategies.
Meet the Tutors
Also, interview a prospective tutor.
Don’t be afraid of being thorough. But,
before you hire a tutor make sure your kid
is there before sealing the deal, so they feel
like they have taken part in the decision.
Confirm the tutor’s expertise. Why
do you want the tutor? Homework help
for an elementary schooler might only
require a college student. A high schooler
who needs to catch up in a specific subject or a child prepping for a test might
need someone who has either taught or
tutored that subject or test for a few
years. In the case of test help, you will
want someone who is familiar with
recent changes, such as the longer writing
sample in the SAT.
But lining up a biochemist to teach your
child seventh grade science is not necessary,
Jeff Sharp, executive director of Vertex
Academic Services, explained. Sharp said
that while a tutor should have a strong academic background in the subject in which
the child is having trouble, parents “don’t
necessarily need someone with a doctorate
degree.” To confirm a tutor’s expertise, ask
for documentation like a college transcript,
a teaching or tutoring certificate or membership in a tutoring association.
Know the plan. “Prior to selecting a
tutor or learning center, a parent should
speak with his or her child and come to a
shared understanding of the goals they
would like to achieve and then be prepared to discuss them in detail with the
tutor. The efficacy of tutoring is significantly higher when parents and students
are on the same page with regard to
expectations, Bill Fitzhugh, business
manager of Next Level Learning, said.
Observe a mini-lesson before signing
on for a set of lessons. You want a person
who connects with your child. Check if
the tutor is professional, patient and gives
your child enough time to digest material. Ellen Ross, owner and director of Blue
Tomato, said that she makes a point to
ask parents about their child’s personality to make sure the match between student and tutor is the best it can be. She
and materials.
Ask the tutor whether she can guarantee your kid’s improvement. If she says
yes, don’t hire her, because she doesn’t
know what she’s talking about, said Sandi
Ayaz of the National Tutoring Association.
A tutor can guarantee that she will set
forth a reasonable plan and work to
achieve your goals, but “nobody can guarantee you can raise scores,” Ayaz noted.
Trust your gut. “If something doesn’t
feel right, look for somebody else,” said
Ayaz. Sharp adds that a strong child-tutor
connection is essential to making the
relationship work. “Having that good
rapport can really help take learning to
the next level,” he noted.
✦
SCORE!
412 Columbus Avenue, 212-579-9066,
and other Manhattan locations
Niche: Customized multimedia curriculum covers reading, writing and math.
Sylvan Tutor Doctor
www.tutordoctor.com, 212-452-1204
Niche: Sylvan does a free assessment
to match students with the appropriate
tutor.
Vertex Academic Centers
330 Madison Avenue, Ninth Floor, 212573-0980
Niche: Works with grades K-12 for standardized test preparation (ACT, SAT,
SSAT, ISEE) as well as basic subject reenforcement and college counseling.
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