Tutoring

“Campus tutoring programs should be combined into one service” plus 2 more

2011-03-15T11:13:00.001-07:00

Tutoring - Yahoo! News Search Results

“Campus tutoring programs should be combined into one service” plus 2 more

Campus tutoring programs should be combined into one service
University seeks to maintain alternative opportunities following closure of Covel tutoring in spring
Tutoring and workshops on the Hill to be discontinued

Campus tutoring programs should be combined into one service

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 02:24 AM PDT

Last week, I made an appointment with Covel Peer Learning Labs' tutoring services to see what future students will miss out on next year, when the program no longer exists.

My tutor didn't turn my writing into Pulitzer Prize-caliber work, but she did help me realize where my writing was unclear and where I needed to elaborate.

There's no question that UCLA needs to have tutoring options available to all students – it's an essential service. Professors here demand a lot from their students and it falls on the university to make sure we as students have the support to succeed in these classes.

Instead of simply cutting Covel's tutorials, which are open to all students, the administration should redirect funding from all current sources into one streamlined program. The new tutoring service would have one set of managers, joint office space and shared resources, saving administrative costs for all of the programs.

While it's easy to disagree with the decision to close Covel and demand that the administration change its decision, it's not easy to say what should be cut instead. According to Judith Smith, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, her office has received a 15 percent cut. The programs she oversees include freshman clusters, Fiat Lux seminars, undergraduate research, honors, academic counseling and the Academic Advancement Program. All of these are important programs for the university to offer.

Though Covel is also critical, its $400,000 budget is large enough that Smith said that she does not expect its services will be saved in the future.

But instead of scrapping Covel tutoring, the university offices should combine existing tutoring programs.

Currently, there are several: AAP and Athletics offer peer learning services for their students, the math department has drop-in tutoring operated by its graduate students, and the Student Retention Center offers workshops similar to those that Covel offered.

AAP, Covel, Athletics, and individual departments have different groups of students they serve and are very different programs, but their tutoring components are not that different. Tutoring is tutoring.

Consolidating all tutoring programs would save administrative costs, reduce the number of full-time staff needed for management and continue offering services to students. A combined tutoring service would also help save money on resources, training, hiring and advertising. AAP's budget for peer learning could be shifted to this consolidated tutoring service, Athletics could fund it in part, and departmental tutors could be listed in one go-to place for students.

It would also be easier for students who want tutoring to go to one place instead of debating where to go for extra help.

There are thousands of students who get tutoring through various programs. The demand is obviously there and an academically challenging university like UCLA has a duty to support all of its students.

Instead of asking that the university change its decision of cutting Covel tutoring, students should suggest a better way of doing things. A Facebook group with a few hundred members won't change the minds of administrators (remember Undie Run?).

The tutors who will be jobless next year and the students who receive tutoring know best how tutoring organizations function. They are the best people to suggest streamlining plans to the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Cutting programs to their bare minimum is not the answer to budget cuts. No one wants to have to book academic counselors weeks in advance.

But the answer is also not cutting essential services. Tutoring, counseling and research are all essential for a university.

Eliminating redundancies and consolidating programs that have similar missions can save money for the university and streamline a convoluted bureaucracy.

Should UCLA cut counseling and honors instead? E-mail Ramzanali at  aramzanali@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu.

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University seeks to maintain alternative opportunities following closure of Covel tutoring in spring

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 10:24 AM PDT

The university is considering alternative tutoring options following the decision to end free peer tutoring on the Hill.

The Academics in the Commons program, which serves about 3,000 students and costs about $500,000 yearly, will close June 10. It is the only on-campus tutoring program that is open to all students.

Tutoring classes in Covel Peer Learning are focused largely on math and science. The Department of Undergraduate Education will work with academic departments to create free tutoring opportunities for classes that Covel currently offers tutoring in.

Judith Smith, vice provost of undergraduate education, said she wants to establish these options by fall.

English as a Second Language and composition labs will also be cut, Smith said.

Since these are mostly one-on-one drop-in services, they are more difficult to replace, she said.

Additionally, maintaining ESL and composition labs are a lower priority because the academic courses already have a low teacher-student ratio, she said.

Over the past three years the department's budget has been cut 12 percent. An additional $1 million has been cut this year, and the department's budget could be reduced again in the future. Smith said the main reason behind this is the state's inability to fund employee health benefits and retirement contributions.

Smith said she made the decision to cut funding for Academics in the Commons because it serves a small group of people in only select classes, whereas other programs have a broader effect.

Priorities that lie above maintaining Covel tutoring include Academic Advancement Program tutoring, which serves about 25 percent of undergraduate students, and academic counseling, which helps students make academic decisions and graduate in a timely manner.

Students and faculty involved in academic counseling are also working to maintain peer tutoring opportunities.

In addition to cooperating with undergraduate deans, Undergraduate Students Association Council Academic Affairs Commissioner Suza Khy said she plans to approach Chancellor Gene Block about dipping into the $200 million donation from the Lincy Foundation, part of which is supposed to support academic programs.

In addition, students and faculty are organizing efforts to come up with a proposal that will take into account budget cuts while keeping student needs in mind, said AITC Athletics supervisor Cindy Nguyen.

Academics in the Commons currently hires about 120 students a year, which will be cut to about 100, Smith said.

Tutors are still needed because of the high number of tutoring classes offered for athletes, Nguyen said. Athletic tutoring will continue because it is funded by the athletics department.

Nonetheless, Nguyen said the cuts undermine one of the ruling tenets of a public university – fair and equal opportunity for all students.

The high demand and frequent return of students in tutoring classes speaks to the effectiveness of tutoring, said peer-learning facilitator and fourth-year psychobiology student Ryan Tuschida.

Tuschida is also involved with Nguyen's campaign to reinstate free peer tutoring, and said he knows the goal is difficult considering the current economic climate.

"Realistically it takes time for things to happen," he said. "From this step forward, it needs to be 'OK, there is an issue, how do we resolve that? How does everyone come out winning?'"

Tutoring and workshops on the Hill to be discontinued

Posted: 12 Mar 2011 03:01 PM PST

Free tutoring programs and workshops in Covel Commons, which assist about 3,000 students per quarter, will close at the end of spring quarter due to budget woes.

The Covel Peer Learning Labs for math, science and composition will be discontinued, as will the Peer Advising Network. Peer learning for student athletes will continue because it is paid for by non-state funding.

Under current budgetary conditions, the programs in Covel are not likely to return, said Judith Smith, dean and vice provost of the Division of Undergraduate Education.

If Covel tutoring shuts down, UCLA will be the only UC without peer learning that is blind to issues like financial status or race, said Ryan Tsuchida, a peer learning facilitator for five quarters and a fourth-year psychobiology student.

The labs employ about 120 students as peer learning facilitators each year, said Bruce Barbee, director of Academics in the Commons.

Three staff members will lose their jobs, and 20 to 30 fewer peer learning facilitators will be hired next year, Smith said.

Tsuchida said the math and science labs are open to all students and fill up very quickly each quarter.

Health science students will likely feel most concerned because the math and science tutorials have the most students, Barbee said.

Also, students who speak English as their second language will lose a resource to improve their writing.

Tsuchida said he and other peer learning facilitators hope to spark a significant response from students and others on campus to protest the cut.

"I would have failed (Chemistry) 14C without Covel tutoring," said second-year anthropology student Emma Basaran. "It's getting harder and harder to be successful."

Smith said she hopes to work with other departments to expand academic service to students.

For example, the Office of Residential Life runs math and science drop-in peer learning, and the Mathematics Department provides similar services, which Smith said she would like to help develop.

"It's a shame we're in a situation where something like this (has happened)," Barbee said. "But it's strictly a business decision."
Smith said other cuts will come as she is still making budget decisions.

“Tutoring Younger Minds: Bauxite seniors help seventh-graders ahead of exams” plus 1 more

2011-03-14T11:17:00.001-07:00

“Tutoring Younger Minds: Bauxite seniors help seventh-graders ahead of exams” plus 1 more

Tutoring Younger Minds: Bauxite seniors help seventh-graders ahead of exams

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 09:47 PM PDT

March 13, 2011

A group of seventh grade students at Bauxite Middle School intently listen to high school senior Collin Lingo, center top, who is tutoring them to help with upcoming state-mandated Benchmark exams. Overall, 10 Bauxite seniors are tutoring 50 seventh-graders who school officials said needed a little extra help or are on the edge of falling below the state average on Benchmark exams. The tests will be taken on April 15. MATT BURKS/Courier

When teachers at Bauxite Middle School first noticed that 50 seventh-graders students were in danger of falling below the state average on the state-mandated Benchmark Exam, they took action.
The Bauxite School District is using a number of different avenues to help the students improve — from faculty members attending workshops and training sessions, professional development workshops targeted at the students' test score weaknesses, to using new technology programs like SmartBoard interactive whiteboards, enhanced audio and visual aides, and various tutoring sessions.
But in a unique twist, the teachers have begun relying on an unlikely source to help the middle school students.
Ten seniors from Bauxite High School are now tutoring the younger students in preparation for the Benchmark Exams a mere three weeks away.
Bauxite school administrators have said this new role of the high school mentors is showing tremendous success.
"These middle school students are really listening to the seniors and they seem to be taking their advice," English teacher Micah Brown said. "The seniors instill the importance of these tests to these seventh-grade students. The seniors do a great job with them."
Senior Collin Lingo admitted that he did not know what to expect with the seventh-graders and was actually "a little nervous" on the first day. But not only did the younger students immediately ease his tensions, he said they also surprised him in other areas.
"I realized they are all really intelligent," Lingo said. "They don't need as much help as I thought they would. They have picked up what I am teaching them really fast."
Senior Jacob Self added, "It can be a challenge to keep (the seventh-graders') attention on subject sometimes, but now they realize the tests are just weeks away. I think some of them were disappointed to be here at first, but now they are all ready to go. It's a good reward to watch them grow."
Senior Ashley Traylor added, "We were all there once. We know how they feel. We tell them not to be nervous or scared about taking the tests. They respond really well, and we actually get a lot of work done."
Coach Al Harrell, who is the middle school principal, explained that teachers were made aware of 50 seventh-grade students "on the bubble" of meeting state testing standards months ago through the Learning Institute in Hot Springs. He said Brown and math teacher Charlotte Tarvin began tutoring the students during an enrichment period. The students responded with mild results, Harrell said
"Then Coach (Jon) Watson and I talked to the counselors at the high school and explained the situation," Harrell said. "That is when we asked for the 10 high school seniors to help with tutoring. Now the teachers give the lessons to the seniors and tell them to teach it to the seventh-graders."
He added, "I am hearing the students are doing really well and the seniors' only reward is that of helping others. And the seventh-graders are paying attention to the high school students."
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during an enrichment period, the seventh-graders gather in the middle school cafeteria where they are split into groups of five as they wait for the high school seniors.
"These (seventh-graders) are always so excited," Tarvin said. "They beg for their team leaders to be here and if they are absent that day, they get upset. They love their senior mentors."
Senior Briar Sample added, "It is a lot of fun being with them. They've got a lot to learn, but they all respond well and they listen to us seniors. It definitely makes you feel good that we are helping them."
Senior Tanner Trantham added, "My favorite part is just being with (the seventh-graders) and when you see something click in their mind — when you see them understand something you are teaching them — that is what it is all about."
Lingo also revealed a unique technique that he established on the first day of meeting his group of five seventh-graders. He found a way to connect with them on a more personal level.
"Really, it took about five seconds for all of us to connect," Lingo said. "It may be an age thing, but we all decided to give each other nicknames. They decided to call me 'Skeeter' for some reason, but it worked and it makes everything more personal."
He added, "I don't want them to see me as someone that had to come here. I want them to see me as a friend wanting to help, and it has absolutely worked. And they all get along with each other, too, despite many being in different classes. I think they have also become close with each other."
Self said that he likes "to use pens and pencils" and other visual aides for his tutoring methods. Trantham said he also had to retrain his mind with the math lessons before teaching it to the seventh-graders.
"It was a challenge at first, but once I relearned their lessons, I then applied it to seventh-grade understanding," he said. "I'll take something I need to teach them and break it down into sections. I then relate what I am teaching to something they can relate to, such as a basketball game or even pizza or things that the girls are into now days. Somehow it all helps them."
Lingo, a.k.a. Skeeter, said that getting more one-on-one tutoring sessions with his students is resulting in great success.
"There are a few that have made a lot of improvement," he said. "One kid didn't talk at all when we first met, but now he says 'Hey, Skeeter, I need help.' And he is now one of the best students in the group."
Brown said the Benchmark exams for the seventh-graders are scheduled on April 15 and with the help of the high school seniors, they are expecting those students that were on the edge of having low test scores to improve dramatically.
Principal Harrell said, "We don't know yet how much it will help the test scores, but it is a different approach and I think a different perspective can help."

SAT tutoring new york

Posted: 13 Mar 2011 11:13 PM PDT

03.13.2011– SAT Tutoring
New York, NY – Anthony-James Green, seen by many as New York's best SAT tutor, has just released a new e-book titled 9 Things Every Parent Needs to Know About the SAT. For a limited time, the guide has been posted on Anthony's SAT Tutoring website, http://www.newyorksbestsattutor.com/ free of charge. SAT tutoring new york

"There's a lot of bad information floating around about the SAT, and I want to make sure that parents are better informed," said Green of his new book. Anthony has tutored over 200 students in the SAT, with an industry-beating average score increase of over 350 points per student. "It's more important than ever that students get good SAT scores if they want to get into good schools, and parents are a really important part of the equation."

Response to the guide has been extremely positive. It has already been downloaded over 400 times, and Anthony has barely had time to keep up with the flood of calls coming in from parents all over New York. "I wasn't expecting so many people to get in touch!" said Anthony of the guide's feedback.

The guide covers everything from proper SAT goal setting to test timing and preparation. If you're a parent looking for a great primer on the exam and what to expect, there's no better way to get a comprehensive look at the complexities of the test. Anthony is an insider with years of experience, and his guide is meant to share his knowledge with any parents looking to improve their children's test scores.

You can visit Anthony's website NewYorksBestsatTutor.com, where you can download the guide directly from his homepage, or you can visit his site directly at http://www.newyorksbestsattutor.com/. Anthony's contact information is included in the guide – if you'd like to set up tutoring with Anthony, make sure to contact him as soon as possible, as his schedule is usually filled months in advance.

URL: http://www.newyorksbestsattutor.com/

Tutoring and workshops on the Hill to be discontinued

2011-03-13T12:30:00.001-07:00

Tutoring and workshops on the Hill to be discontinued

Posted: 12 Mar 2011 10:54 PM PST