Find a Tutor - 15 Questions to Help Qualify a Tutor
By Melanie D White
1. What do you charge? Fees can range anywhere from $15-$75/hour. Usually at the lower end of the scale are people without degrees or teaching credentials. They could also be high school or college students looking to earn some additional income. Depending on their academic knowledge and their ability to explain things, these less expensive tutors may or may not be a good match for your child. At the upper end of the scale are people with advanced degrees (Masters and Doctorates) as well as college professors. Again, just because they look good on paper and charge a lot of money doesn't mean they are the best tutors. What you are looking for is someone your child can relate to and understand, someone who explains things in different ways until your child "gets it." Feel lucky if you can find a certified teacher who has a good rapport with your child that charges anywhere between $20-$40/hour.
2. What is the length of a session, and how often should the student meet with you? To be the most effective, tutors should meet with students 2-3 times a week. Sessions can range from 1/2 hour to 2 hours, depending on the age of your child. Very young children have short attention spans and should meet more often but for shorter periods of time. High school students can focus for up to two hours if the tutor varies the activities and keeps the discussions lively. Even if students are attending 2 hour sessions, they should still meet with a tutor at least twice a week. By only meeting once a week, students are not able to get enough feedback about the material they are covering and do not have the consistency they need to succeed in their problem areas.
3. How long have you been tutoring? Tutors who have at least one year of experience have had time to work out the kinks in their systems. That's not to say that tutors just starting out won't be excellent teachers for your student, especially if they have previous experience as teachers. However, novice tutors probably haven't worked out their billing system or their cancellation policy or other types of business matters. They may not have as many resources available to them as tutors who have been in business longer. Conversely, just because a tutor has 20 years of experience doesn't mean he/she will be a good match for your child. Sometimes older tutors get set in their ways and have difficulty adjusting their system to new material or children with problems focusing. Making sure your student gets along with the tutor is one of the most important factors in ensuring the relationship is a successful one.
4. Are you a certified teacher? Certified teachers have had to pass minimum competency exams in their areas of expertise. So you can be sure that a certified teacher has a certain basic knowledge of educational concepts and at least some level of proficiency in his/her subject areas. Generally teachers are either certified as elementary (covering grades K-8) or secondary (covering grades 6-12). As you can see, the certifications overlap at grades 6-8, the middle school years. So teachers with either elementary or secondary certifications would be qualified to tutor these grade levels. Depending on the age of your child, you want to try to get a teacher with the appropriate certification. That's not to say a teacher with a secondary certification can't help an elementary student or vice versa. It's just that teachers with an elementary certification have had specialized training dealing with younger children whereas teachers with a secondary certification have had more opportunity to focus on more difficult subject matter.
5. How do you handle kids with learning problems like ADHD and dyslexia? Teachers should be aware that students with learning difficulties often require different strategies than students who have not been diagnosed with these challenges. Tutors should be able to outline some of their specific strategies for helping your child based on what his/her problem happens to be. For example, what do they do when your ADHD daughter just can't seem to focus? What kind of approach would they take with helping your dyslexic son learn to read? You need to make sure that tutors are sensitive to these types of learning issues and have strategies in place to deal with them. One of the qualities that all tutors require is patience, so it would be beneficial to you to observe a tutoring session to see for yourself how patient the tutor is with your student. If the tutor does not allow parents to watch a session, perhaps they would allow you to tape or video record a session, so that it is less distracting for your child. Also, get feedback from your children as to how helpful the tutor is. Don't continue with a tutor who your child does not like and is not enthusiastic about seeing.
6. What is your area of expertise? Different tutors will have different strengths and weaknesses. Just ask the tutor what they feel comfortable teaching. Your high school sophomore might need help in Geometry, Chemistry, and Spanish. But it is unlikely you will find a tutor who is able to teach all 3 of these subjects. Often someone good with Math with also be good in Science, and someone good in English will also be good with a foreign language. But you might also find that someone with an English degree is also excellent with first year Algebra. You just never know. So you should find out what the tutor's credentials are and how much experience they have teaching the various subjects your student needs help with. Then make an informed decision about whether the tutor is qualified to help your student with the subject. High school students may need to see more than one tutor in order to get all their questions answered for each subject area.
7. What age student do you like to work with? Many teachers have definite preferences about what age student they like to work with. Some just enjoy helping younger students because they like the enthusiasm and energy little ones have. Also, many tutors feel that certain upper-level material is over their heads and feel more comfortable working with easier subject matter. On the other hand, some tutors prefer working with older students because they relate to teenagers better and haven't had the training necessary to be able to relate to smaller children. Of course there are some extra special teachers who can effectively work with students of any age. So just find out what age student the tutor feels comfortable with and make sure that matches the age of your child.
8. Do you have any references? Tutors who have been working for at least a year should be able to provide you with the names and phone numbers of other clients who are happy with their services. If tutors are just starting out, they may not have names of any past clients, but they should be able to give you the names of former employers, teachers, or friends who can vouch for their character. If any of the references you contact seem the least bit unsure about whether the tutor is good with kids, then you should look elsewhere for help. If a person is willing to give you references, then they should be good references that inspire confidence in the tutor's ability to teach your child.
9. Where do you tutor? Find out if a tutor prefers to work at his/her home, your home, or a neutral location like a library. Many tutors like to work at their own home. First of all, it is more efficient for them. They can line up clients back-to-back and not lose any time on the road or be caught out if their tutoring student cancels on them. Tutors also find it easier to have all their supplies and materials on hand without having to tote them around and possibly forget something they will need to effectively teach the student. If tutors use their own home, make sure that they are working at a well lit place conducive to studying with no distractions. Also, make sure you feel comfortable leaving your son or daughter alone with them. If not, ask the tutor to let you stay in a nearby room during the tutoring session. Other tutors will travel to your home. Expect to pay an additional fee for this service, since the tutor will be out additional time and gas money to travel to you. For tutors who feel their home is not suitable for tutoring (because they have young children or live in a small apartment), they prefer to travel to their clients' homes, and some of them will not charge any additional fee. Other tutors prefer a neutral location for tutoring like a library because they think it more conducive to studying, and it ensures the safety of both the tutor and the student.
10. What is your cancellation policy? Don't be surprised if your tutor requires you to sign a paper that says if you cancel a tutoring session without at least 24 hours notice, then you will be charged for that session. Tutors make their schedules based on an agreed upon time with their clients. Often they will have other clients who would like to tutor at the same time your student is scheduled, but they have to turn away this business because you are already taking up that time slot. If you cancel and the tutor is unable to fill that slot, the tutor has lost some of his/her anticipated income for that day. In the case of illness or an unexpected emergency, most tutors will allow you to make up that tutoring session at another time. Also, you should know what the tutor's policy is if he/she has to cancel on you. You should receive a make-up lesson or a refund for that session. If a tutor cancels on you more than 3 times in a semester, then you should consider looking for another tutor.
11. Do you require me to sign a contract? Don't worry if a tutor asks you to sign a paper that confirms the hourly rate, documents how often he/she will get paid, and outlines the cancellation policy. This contract will benefit both you and the tutor. After all, this is a business relationship, and it is good for both parties to have in writing the details about payment and cancellations. However, if a tutor wants you to sign a contract that commits you to paying for a specified number of sessions in advance, then you should beware. What if your son tells you after the second session that the tutor is not being helpful, and he hates her? You don't want to have to keep taking him to her just because you signed a contract that says they will have 10 sessions together. And you don't want to lose all the money you spent and get no help at all. Then you are stuck. Just read the contract carefully, and if there are parts of it you don't agree with, discuss them with the tutor and see if you can modify the contract. If you can't, don't sign the contract and look for another tutor.
12. Can we meet with you? Most tutors will agree to meet with the parents and student (at no charge) before they begin tutoring. This meeting should allow you the opportunity to check out the home of the tutor and inspect the area where the tutoring will take place to make sure it is suitable. If you are scheduling tutoring at a location other than the tutor's home, this meeting will serve as a job interview. Make sure the student is able to attend this meeting. How the student relates to the tutor is much more important than whether or not the parents like the tutor. If the tutor only talks to the parents and ignores the student, you may want to seriously consider whether or not the tutor will be able to communicate educational information to your child. If the tutor seems more interested in your child than you, take it as a good sign, a sign that the tutor genuinely likes kids. Of course you will want to make sure the tutor communicates with you and finds out your expectations for tutoring. If the tutor cannot meet with you because of scheduling conflicts, the tutor may be too busy to take on additional clients and may not have the time to give your child the attention he/she deserves.
13. Do you offer any guarantees? There are no guarantees in life. You may want the tutor to promise you that the student's grades will improve or that the student will study more or that student will start to have a better attitude about doing homework. While all these things might result from your student working with a tutor, the tutor can't promise that they will happen. Remember if your child is behind in school, it will take awhile to catch up. Don't expect an instant fix to the problem. If you know your student is two grade levels behind, don't expect him/her to catch in one six weeks. So how will you know if the money you are spending for a tutor is worth it? If your student doesn't mind going to tutoring, and the tutor can show you what they are working on regularly, then you can trust that they are making progress. Of course the ultimate goal of tutoring is for the student to become an independent learner, so you should make sure the tutor is encouraging the student to take responsibility for his/her studies and not simply helping the student complete his/her homework.
14. When do you get paid? The way tutors get paid will vary with each one. Tutors can get paid for each individual session, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Some tutors will want their money in advance while others are content to get paid after services have been rendered. Some tutors will be flexible about when they get paid and others will not. Just remember that the tutor also has bills to pay, and so if they have a certain way they want to be paid, try to accommodate them. If they have a lot of clients and each one pays in a different way, it will be hard for them to keep track of who has paid and who has not. Make sure you work out an agreement about payment in advance of beginning tutoring so that everyone will know what to expect.
15. Will you invoice me? Many tutors will not have the capability to take credit cards, but if they do, you will have a record of your payment when you receive your credit card statement each month. If you pay by check, keeping a record is easy. You either have it on a duplicate check or on your monthly statement. However, if you pay cash, make sure the tutor gives you a written receipt with the date you made the payment and what the payment covers (the dates and lengths of the tutoring sessions). Many tutors will provide you with a typed invoice for tutoring. If so, keep them in a file folder and make a notation on them about how you paid. If you pay with check, write the check number, amount, and date paid on the invoice. If you pay with cash, simply make a notation of the amount paid in cash and the date you paid it. If you want, you can even have the tutor initial the information for verification. This kind of record keeping ensures that there is never any discrepancy between you and the tutor regarding payment.
Melanie D. White is the mother of three school age children. She is also a certified teacher who currently runs a freelance tutoring business in the Dallas area. For more information about the tutoring services Melanie has to offer, check out her web site: http://www.dfwtutoring.com.
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The Three Biggest Pitfalls in Hiring a Math Tutor and How to Handle Them
By David Y
When searching for a math tutor there are things you need to have in place to ensure a good experience. Having a good tutor can be a great benefit - far more bang for your buck than classroom education - but there are three common problems that can interfere with your getting your money's worth. These problems are inability to communicate, lack of real knowledge of the subject matter, and plain irresponsibility. On the other side of the equation, you can (if you are deliberate in your choosing) find a tutor who doesn't merely avoid these problems but gives far greater benefit than all the teachers you've ever had combined.
FACTOR #1: ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE
Some brilliant mathematicians are notoriously bad communicators. (Those of us who are not downright schizophrenic, like John Nash, famously portrayed in A Beautiful Mind, often love the world of ideas especially because of its removal from real life!)
If you have an absent-minded-professor type for a tutor, you have an abundance of knowledge but no way to access it. If you have a present-minded tutor who knows how to nurture the students' learning process, you have an invaluable aid to your learning.
What a good tutor and good tutoring company do to communicate clearly:
A good tutor listens. She/he is patient, she listens to your needs, she works with you at every step and continuously monitors your progress and takes you from where you are to where you want to be. (Not from where you aren't.)
A good tutor is very experienced at tutoring-not just at classroom teaching, which is a very different activity. A good tutor is intuitive about students' needs.
A good tutoring company hires good tutors, not just brilliant mathematicians, or certified teachers, or people looking to earn a buck. When it contracts a tutor, a good company director asks her/him to teach a sample lesson. They have a conversation. They interact.
An experienced tutoring director knows when someone can communicate well. They've paid attention to their students, to feedback, and have analyzed and reflected on the communications process to see what works.
Some students need things to be spoken slowly, some need things repeated many times, while others may need things to go fast in order to keep their attention focused.
FACTOR #2: ATTENTIVENESS
An experienced tutor should not only take into consideration the student's learning abilities and knowledge of a particular subject matter, but should also be able to take into consideration other factors as well. Very often the obstacle to understanding mathematics is not necessarily due to a person's learning abilities, but is due to the person's current psychological and emotional state. A student may have things going on at home, at work or in a relationship, which can cause a significant obstruction to learning. He or she will be with their tutor during a tutoring session, and instead of focusing on what the tutor is trying to explain, the student is engaged in thoughts pertaining to his/her problems. This can cause attention deficit, inability to focus, and lack of desire to learn or listen to the tutor. If taking on a student for long term tutoring, a good tutor or tutoring company should try as much as possible to take these factors into consideration and craft their tutoring sessions with this information in mind.
FACTOR #3: GUARANTEEING RESULTS
Being able to guarantee the results of your work is a big plus. An experienced tutor or tutoring company, after spending a couple of sessions with a student, and making the necessary assessments, should be able to tell how many sessions the student should need in order to do well in a course or to pass an exam. The tutors should be able to guarantee whether the student will do well in the course or on the exam (on the condition that the student does all the work that is assigned to him and cooperates with his tutor. There are many cases where families or individuals buy large tutoring packages for themselves or their families, go through the tutoring sessions, do all the necessary work, and then don't end up doing well in their respective courses. This is unethical, because a tutoring company should take a certain measure of responsibility, to be able to guarantee the final outcomes in performance. If such a case occurs, then you should contact the company and ask for your money back. However, if you or your child spent time with a good tutor who has done all the work from his or her end, and you or your child did not participate or do the necessary work, then your failure should not be the company's responsibility. At the same time, if a company or a tutor notices a student who is not interested in learning, this situation should be immediately addressed, and further efforts should be made to change the situation around. After carrying this out, if indeed there is no desire to continue on the student's end, then all further sessions should be cancelled. There are many tutoring companies who take advantage of such students. Those, for example who are not interested in being tutored, but are forced to attend lessons by their parents. There is little or no benefit from such sessions.
People who apply to work as tutors at many tutoring companies have studied at some of the top universities in the country. Yet there are some candidates who shouldn't be hired even with the kind of credentials any student of mathematics would envy, simply because they do not have listening skills.
In matching you with your tutor, a really good tutoring director listens carefully and gets a sense of what the best kind of match will be. And if he really has class, then if he doesn't a match for you, he won't pair you with a tutor who can't really help your needs-he'll simply refer you to one of his competitors.
What YOU can do to ensure your needs:
When you speak with a tutoring company the first time, be sure to ask about the communication skills of the tutors. Then, when you get matched up, have a conversation with the tutor yourself, and ask questions. Ask the tutor to explain a mathematical concept to you. If you don't understand the explanation, or if you find you're having to work hard to understand or keep up, this might not be worth pursuing.
What to look for:
• a great tutor will ask you questions while explaining, and find out if you're following.
• a great tutor won't assume that just because you're hearing the words that you're understanding.
• if you don't understand the first explanation, a great tutor will explain it differently the second time, rather than simply repackaging the original explanation in different words.
• a tutor will have the attitude that if the explanation wasn't clear, the student is not to blame (on the condition that you are cooperating and actually want to learn). The customer is always right.
FACTOR #4: KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER
A tutor needs to know the material not just well enough to pass the exam himself/herself but know it when on the spot, and be able to explain it as well as doing it. Real knowledge of subject matter is actually a different skill set from the ability to solve a problem and get a grade on a exam.
A tutor needs to have teaching-knowledge as well as learning knowledge. Concepts often seem to slip out of some people's heads when they're asked to explain them. A real understanding of the context for a mathematical concept is necessary, and of the fundamental principles involved, not merely a pat method for solving a problem. This is particularly true on the SAT or ACT, tests of reasoning rather than subject matter, and on higher level math courses such as college and graduate courses.
For higher-level courses: if you're a college or graduate student, you need a tutoring company that specializes in tutoring for college graduate school classes. There are few people in New York City who are advanced enough in mathematics to be able to tutor these subjects, and very very few tutoring companies who have them. The best mathematicians in New York know the best places to work-so ask them which companies are good.
Some tutoring companies are geared toward their bottom line, not your learning. Their corporate structure legally requires them to maximize their profits-not your learning. They use rote teaching methods, formulas to ensure that quality is controlled. The downside of this is that, since the tutors aren't free to depart from the tried-and-true methods, the improvement in students is very slight. The tutoring isn't individualized or tailored to the student's particular needs. As a business model it makes sense: put a large quantity of students through a rote program and ensure they're all slightly satisfied. But the great additional gains that could have been garnered are all lost.
How a good tutoring company ensures knowledge of the subject matter:
Good companies test everyone who works for them. Potential tutors have to take several written and oral qualifying exams, to ensure complete knowledge of a subject and proper teaching skills. A good tutoring company doesn't go by references alone.
Asking tutors to explain a concept aloud, on the spot, in order to see directly how they teach.
Many good companies give you a chance to "test-drive" a tutor for one session and guarantee a full refund if you're not completely satisfied.
How you can ensure knowledge of subject matter:
When you approach a tutoring company, ask what credentials the tutors have. Look at the tutor profiles page. When talking with a tutor ask the tutor to explain why something works as well as how to do the math.
Factor #5: Responsibility
The reality is some tutors, especially in fast-paced New York City, just don't show up, or don't return phone calls for weeks at a time.
What A Good Company Does to Prevent Run-away Tutors
We've had a few come through our company even. We were astonished that some people could be so unprofessional. We learned.
Now, though our default attitude continues to be trust-based, we understand it is possible for this to occur, and if you came to us for tutoring you'd need to know about us that a tutor who does this is removed from her/his jobs and replaced, period. They don't work for our company again. (Who knows, they may be working for some other company now-so be sure to do some due diligence!) We expect this is how any good company will handle this. But not all companies do have a backup tutor at the ready, one who's fully competent to take over in the middle of the process and get your ready for your exams.
This kind of thing happens very rarely with tutoring companies, and is by far the most infrequent of the three problems we've outlined here. But when it does happen it can be very distressing for students. So it's good to know you won't run into that problem.
How to Do Your Due Diligence:
Ask a tutoring company if they've ever had this occur, and how they handled it. Ask for a guarantee that not only will your problem be addressed but that a backup tutor will be available immediately to ensure you're ready for your exams in time. And that this backup tutor be at least as good as the original.
Summary: How to Get the Best Tutor for YOU
In summary, communication skill, real knowledge of the principles behind the material, and guarantees of responsiveness are the three most important things to ensure you're getting a good tutoring experience that brings you to where you want to be in your studies and your grades. Don't just take our word for it-ask us, ask whatever other company you look at out there.
Take the time to get it right the first time, since it will waste valuable time and make things that much more frantic if you have to do it all again later-plus adding more confusion to your studies or those of your child. And also, if you get a really good tutor, a really great match, you won't just get the benefit of repairing what's not been working in your education previously-you may find you are learning worlds more than you were before.
To recap:
What to ask the tutor or tutoring director:
• how do you/your tutors communicate? What tools do you use to make sure communication is getting through to me in a way that I actually get it?
• Explain a mathematical concept to me.
• Explain to me why this thing works, what's the substance behind the method, as well as how to do the math.
• Have you/your tutors tutored before or only taught in a classroom?
• My learning style is _____. Do you have a tutor/can you tutor to my specific learning style?
• I don't know what my learning style is. I've always had trouble with ____. Can you help me figure out what my learning style is, and will you/the tutor be able to tutor to that learning style?
• What qualifications do your tutors have?
• Ask if there are backup tutors in case of irresponsibility, and ask if the company has ever handled the situation of a runaway before.
What to look for:
• a great tutor will ask you questions while explaining, and find out if you're following what she/he's saying, rather than assuming you're understanding (or that you're the one who's at fault if you don't understand).
• a great tutor won't assume that just because you're hearing the words that you're understanding.
• if you don't understand the first explanation, a great tutor will explain it differently the second time, rather than simply repackaging the original explanation in different words.
• Backup tutors are available if anything should happen with your tutor.
David Yakubov is the creative director and founder of the Math Academy in New York. The Math Academy is an educational company specializing in math education for high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels.
Math Academy offers in-person math tutoring in New York and online tutoring anywhere in the world.
You can visit Math Academy's website at http://mathematics-academy.com
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What Makes a Good Tutor?
By Anton Lebedev
Due to the increasing importance of education, many parents and schools choose to hire tutors. Parents hire freelancer tutors and work with private tutoring services. Parents hire instructors for tasks such as math tutoring, and SAT prep. However, many parents do not exactly understand what makes a good tutor.
Tutors often think that they are well qualified because they possess adequate understanding of the subject matter. Many people say that one possesses adequate knowledge of a subject when he can lecture in the subject. However, there are many other aspects to being a good tutor and having adequate knowledge in the subject will not necessarily make the tutor a good tutor.
Of course, understanding the subject matter is critical to being a good tutor. No tutor is able to adequately explain material to a struggling student if he does not understand it well enough himself. That does not mean that the tutor has to have every single minor aspect of the subject memorize. But the tutor should be able to understand the subject matter after a short review before the session.
Simple knowledge of a subject is generally insufficient to be a good tutor. A tutor has to have true understanding of a subject. For example, an inexperienced math tutor may know the Quadratic formula but a great tutor can also derive it. A decent Literature tutor understands the plot and themes of To Kill a Mockingbird. But a great tutor also understands the history behind the novel.
A good tutor should be an experienced tutor. The more experienced the tutor is, the more likely he will address the student's issues. Inexperienced tutors should first consider volunteering and tutoring family and friends before charging for their services.
Another important aspect of tutoring is having good communication skills. A tutor has to not only know the subject matter but also be able to adequately explain it. Someone may be able to solve any math problem but he will not necessarily make his solution understandable to the student.
A good tutor is a good evaluator of the student's performance. Often, students do not understand exactly what their problems in a course are. They often just know that they are struggling or that they are getting bad grades. A good tutor can understand what gaps and misunderstandings the student has and can provide review of these particular subject areas.
Another characteristic of a good tutor is the ability to understand the student's situation. Students who work with tutors generally are frustrated and a tutor should not never make the situation worse. Also, students can often have learning disabilities so a tutor may need to explain certain aspects differently or use a slower tutoring pace. They should also be forgiving of minor misbehavior by a student as the misbehavior may be caused by stress.
Anton Lebedev is the director of Plus Plus Tutoring, a private in-home tutoring service. Plus Plus Tutoring offers professional K-12 subject tutoring, test and exam preparation, college planning, and study skills training services. Plus Plus Tutoring has professional tutors in Charlotte, tutors in Raleigh, and tutors in many other locations in the United States.
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