Last Thurdsay night we met with 5 Tutoring services for Conner (there are more available but they didn't come to this tutoring fair). One was an online service which I thought was strange.

Anywho, after we were leaving we met with the Coordinator. He suggested I call the ones that really interest us for Conner and ask additional questions. What would you ask? We have to pick three different ones and then send the form back to the school. The school board then approves it. Only Sylvan at this point will be right at Conner's school. Another one (I forget I will have to look at the paperwork) will be at the Middle school. Which means we will have to pick up Conner at 2:55 drop him off at the Middle School. Then they will drive him back to us. With Sylvan we won't have to pick him up and then they will drive him right to our door after tutoring.

I guess I have concerns about accountability with these centers. Apparently they get NCLB money, but they aren't held accountable for actually making progress wi the the child. At least that is my understanding from the coordinator with the school district.

Can someone help me with this tutoring maze? NCLB is paying for it.

Can you hire a private tutor to come to your house or do you have to use a center?

No, I can not afford a private tutor. NCLB is paying for this. The tutors (who are with the different centers) will go to the schools and then bring my son home. Depending on which one we pick, will determine which school they will work out of. Right now I know Sylvan will be in my sons school. So I won't have to transport him.

I am a NCLB tutor and we do a pre-assessment and post assessment to show progress. Plus I have to do monthly progress reports. So not every program does nothing.

I have written some about how to find tutors. I have a fledgling website about tutoring math (http://findmathtutor.com/).

Anyway, I would suggest asking each company what their NCLB program is like.
Do they use manipulatives for math?
How are they teaching reading?
How do they teach non-phonetic words (I would look for techniques that use body movement to help cement memory).
What kind of progress do they expect to see?
Will parents get updates on how the tutoring is going?
Can they individualize the tutoring to the child--for example, if a child loves games, will they incorporate games as a teaching tool?

I will say, I have not been impressed with either Sylvan or Huntington. Yeah, they employ certified teachers, but imo that means they follow the worksheet learning model. As in, here's this worksheet, let's do all the problems and fill in all the blanks. It tends to be the same approach that is used in the classroom, just one-on-one. Except if the classroom approach worked, kids wouldn't need help.

Right now I tutor a kid who did Huntington and it was not effective for him. Mom likes me better because I am creative. We never do worksheets. Ever. Some of the techniques I've used with her son, he's shared with his teacher and they are adopting them for the classroom. Simply because I make things fun and interesting.

If you have not yet pursued any testing for a learning difference, please do so. Kids who qualify for NCLB tend to have pretty significant learning gaps that often point toward dyslexia or dyscalculia. An IEP may do more for your child, long term, than NCLB as NCLB is often a short term program.

V

Some questions i would ask are:
What is your staff to student ratio (while they claim 1:1 its not always so)
Will my child be working 1:1 or will there be small group work as well
or phrased as my child works better alone or my child works better with a child partner etc
How long is your tutoring session and how many different activites take place ( for example a 1 hr session may have 4-5 different activites)
Do you send a report after each session home with the child?
After how many sessions do you generally see 1 grade level improvement? And will my child be able to maintain that improvement and not loose ground?
After how many session to you meet with the parents to assess how the program is working?