Tuesday, March 9, 2010

“W.Va. State offering free math tutoring (The Charleston Gazette)” plus 2 more

“W.Va. State offering free math tutoring (The Charleston Gazette)” plus 2 more

W.Va. State offering free math tutoring (The Charleston Gazette)

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 12:02 PM PST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State University department of mathematics will offer free math tutoring for secondary school students this spring.

Sessions will take place April 6, 8, 13, 20, 22, 27 and 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. in 225 Wallace Hall.

Because tutoring is done on a one-to-one basis, not everyone who applies will be accepted.

Parents or guardians need to fill out a referral form, which includes a recommendation from the student's current teacher. Forms must be submitted by March 31. For a copy of the form or for additional information, contact the WVSU mathematics department at 304-766-3267.

 

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Around the region (Post-Tribune)

Posted: 09 Mar 2010 03:17 AM PST


Faith and singles conference at EOC: Embassies of Christ, 4285 Cleveland St., will conduct a faith conference at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Also, the church will host a singles conference at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 13. Both events are free. For more information, call the church at 887-6418.

GARY

Tutoring for male students: The African-American Achievers Youth Corps, a not-for-profit organization of middle and high school African American males, is offering free tutoring for male students in the fourth through 12th grades from 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Indiana University Northwest, Hawthorn Hall, Room 361, 3400 Broadway. Parents can enroll their sons by bringing them to tutoring or by calling Karen at 980-6689. The services are provided with a grant from the Geminus Corp. African-American Achievers is a mentoring, tutorial, entrepreneurial and counseling program for males in the sixth through 12th grades. Parents interested in enrolling their sons in the program can call state Rep. Vernon G. Smith, board chairman, at 887-2046. The group meets at 1 p.m. Saturdays at Hawthorn Hall, Room 219, followed by an hour of basketball.

MUNSTER

Vendors sought for Children's Expo: The Munster Parks and Recreation Department is seeking vendors for the Children's Expo planned for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 8, at the Centennial Park banquet facility, 9851 Calumet Ave. Business vendors and private individuals are welcome to sell new or gently used items. All vendors must register by Friday, March 19. For more information, call the Munster Parks and Recreation Department at 836-7275.

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Warning bells ring on private tutors (People's Daily)

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 08:40 PM PST


As thousands of students sign up for lessons, parents are urged to study schools' credentials

Xu Jia, 21, a junior at the University of International Business and Economics, bought herself a suit over winter vacation because she had to look more mature for her part-time job.

Xu, a major in international trade, was employed by the Miyun county branch of a private tutoring center headquartered in the Haidian district.

The tutoring center made her pretend to be a professional teacher from a public primary school.

"A teacher from the center told me to dress up like a real teacher to enhance my credibility," she said.

"Furthermore, the teacher often bragged how big and famous the center was to parents, but I even couldn't find any information about the center online," Xu said.

She taught Olympic mathematics and physics to five second-graders two hours weekly, and got paid 50 yuan per hour.

"I am knowledgeable enough to teach second-graders, but sometimes I feel I don't have the technique a professional teacher possesses to communicate with these naughty kids and get myself fully understood," she said.

Unqualified teachers, or at least the misrepresentation of their credentials, are among the many pitfalls parents face when choosing from among the hundreds of companies offering tutoring services, say educators.

Yu Liping, vice-president of Jinghan Educational Center, one of the biggest companies providing private tutoring services in Beijing, told METRO that the malpractice is common in the market because the threshold to start a private tutoring business is low and the competition is very severe.

"Some small education centers fabricate teachers' diplomas and educational backgrounds and lower the price to attract students when they can't compete with standard organizations," he said.

About 330 private tutoring schools are available in Beijing, where parents spend about 5 billion yuan annually on such services, according to current market price.

The majority are small ones that rent classrooms of only dozens of square meters to accommodate a few students, said Yu.

Large-scale private tutoring centers with adequate educational resources account for approximately 10 percent of the total number of private educational centers.

The average price for a one-on-one class with a professional private teacher is 100 yuan per hour. It reaches 200 yuan per hour for high school seniors, according to Yu

"The common way for small private schools to charge more money is that they give up to a 15 percent discount if a student takes more courses with them," he said.

He believes the best way to enhance the quality of education and to regulate the market is to establish internal teacher evaluation and student feedback systems.

External controls, in the form of collaboration among standard private educational centers to introduce a regulation on such companies, should be implemented, Yu said.

The concept of private tutoring is hardly new to Chinese people. Confucius, one of the world's greatest philosophers, was the first man in the history of Chinese education to start a private tutoring school during the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BC) and Warring States (476-221 BC) periods.

But the idea flourished after the late 1970s, when the university entrance exam became the most important part of a student's life and education was regarded as a means to change lives.

Currently, about 100,000 students, about 10 percent of all students from 6 to 18 years old learn with a private tutor in Beijing, said Yu.

A mother of a third-year junior high school student surnamed Guo told

METRO she hired a private tutor with a English diploma to help her daughter prepare for the upcoming high school entrance exam.

"I heard that a teacher would fake his or her educational background to get a job, so I checked her diploma and had a trial class before I hired her," said the mother, who added she was very pleased with the results.

"A private teacher can immediately find the problem students may have with their studies and solve it," Yu said. "It is a very good way to enhance a student's ability."

Source: China Daily(By Wang Wei )

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