Posted: 28 Aug 2010 04:49 AM PDT

Students helping students.

That's the idea behind a free tutoring program that is expanding to include four Tri-Cities schools this fall.

Through the Friends of Simon tutoring project, Simon Fraser University students provide after-school literacy support to immigrant and refugee students in the Tri-Cities, Burnaby and Surrey.

Last year, the program was offered for the first time in Coquitlam at three elementary schools -- Miller Park, Mountain View and Roy Stibbs -- where 40 students attended the twice-weekly sessions.

In September, the program will expand to include Banting Middle School, the first middle school involved since SFU launched the program four years ago.

SFU education professor Paul Shaker said interest in the program has created a high demand for the tutors.

"We believe that there is a lot of interpersonal value and role modelling that goes on. The majority of our tutors are newcomers or first-generation Canadians," Shaker said.

"They exemplify the idea that newcomers can make it -- that kids coming to Canada without one of the official languages can learn and progress and go to university and be successful."

The program operates on funding from the United Way of the Lower Mainland, the North Growth Foundation and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. These funding sources pay for the salaries of the tutors.

"It's not a volunteer program because part of the theory is we want students to be able to work their way through university doing socially constructive work that is valuable to them and society," said Shaker, the program's director.

"We think these young people at university are very talented. Instead of their talent going into regular jobs out in the marketplace, we want to capture that energy for these socially constructive projects."

Program co-ordinator Angela Flumerfelt said the two-hour tutoring sessions focus on literacy in fun ways through activities like drama, dance and board games.

"These children come after a full day of school. As you can imagine, if they're ESL students it's pretty challenging for them to understand what's going on in the classroom and some of the tasks required of them," she said.

"So when we get them in the after-school program, we really like to depart from what they've been doing all day in school. There's ways that you can embed literacy in activity and sneak it up on them so that they don't know that they're learning."

The kids benefit from the individual approach, Flumerfelt said, since one tutor usually works with about three or four children, including some Canadian-born kids who need extra educational support.

"Our tutors make a point of taking a special interest in who the kids are and finding out about their lives and engaging them in conversation," Flumerfelt said.

"They build some great relationships. Probably the most important part of our project is the relationship building between the tutors and the kids.

"It's really heartwarming."

Program staff are also preparing for a population of Bhutanese refugee students who have begun to arrive in the Tri-Cities.

"We have our finger on the pulse. We know that they're coming, but the quandary is we don't know where they're going to arrive on the doorstep," Flumerfelt said.

"For sure that will be a population that we will want to support as well, and I'm sure that the schools will need the extra support when they come."

jmcfee@thenownews.com

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Free tutoring offered through library

Posted: 25 Aug 2010 11:50 AM PDT

A new free online tutoring service is available through the Lafayette Public Library -- HomeworkLouisiana, powered by tutor.com, a leading online tutoring and homework help service.

Recently launched by the State Library of Louisiana, HomeworkLouisiana connects Louisiana's K–12 students, adults preparing for the GED, and college students to a live tutor online for one-on-one help with homework, studying, and test preparation in all core academic subjects including math, science, social studies, and English.

The Live Homework Help service is for use when a student is stuck on a homework problem, struggling with a concept he/she did not understand in class, or studying for an exam.

During Live Homework Help, students and tutors chat using instant messaging, draw problems on an interactive whiteboard, share files to review essays and papers, and browse educational resources online together.

Every tutor is a highly qualified expert who has completed a thorough background check. The network is comprised of more than 1,800 tutors who are certified teachers, graduate school students, university students, and professionals in their fields.

This service is accessible 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday for students in grades kindergarten to 12th and includes tutoring for elementary to advanced coursework in math, science, social studies, and English. Tutoring in Spanish is also available.

To utilize Live Homework Help, a student can visit lafayettepubliclibrary.org, click on the Research and Database heading, scroll down to HomeworkLouisiana and select Live Homework Help.

For more information, call the Lafayette Public Library at 261-5787.

Students eligible for free tutoring

Posted: 27 Aug 2010 11:40 PM PDT

DELAND -- Letters went out Friday to parents of 8,807 Volusia County students who are eligible for free tutoring under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The program is open to children qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches at 24 schools serving large numbers of children from low-income families that failed to make "adequate yearly progress" for three or more years based on students' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Parents have until Sept. 10 to sign up for tutoring.

In the meantime, they'll have a chance to learn about services available from 41 state-approved tutoring providers during events at Atlantic and DeLand high schools.

The tutoring fairs will be Wednesday at Atlantic High, 1250 Reed Canal Road, Port Orange, and Thursday at DeLand High, 800 N. Hill Ave. Both are scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.

The school district has federal funding available to cover tutoring for 1,959 students this year, according to No Child Left Behind coordinator Peggy Hildebrand. If more than that sign up for the service, Hildebrand said children with the greatest academic need will be served first and the rest placed on a waiting list.

Parents of children attending Holly Hill and Read-Pattillo elementary schools also were notified recently of their option to transfer their children to other schools based on school grades released earlier this month. The transfers are available to children attending Title I schools that receive federal funding because they serve large numbers of children from low-income families and have been classified as "schools in need of improvement" for three years.

Holly Hill parents can request their children be transferred to Pathways or Pine Trail elementaries, both in Ormond Beach. Parents from Read-Pattillo Elementary in New Smyrna Beach may request transfers to Edgewater Public School or Indian River Elementary in Edgewater. The deadline for transfer requests is Friday.

Parents of 8,819 children from 20 other Volusia schools were offered transfers earlier this summer under the same eligiblity standards. Transfer requests were filed and approved for 220 children, but Hildebrand reported only 150 of them actually transferred to other schools.

Private tutoring becoming a trend in the UAE

Posted: 25 Aug 2010 05:15 AM PDT

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) A substantial number of high school students in UAE schools opt for private tuitions and experts have attributed it to peer pressure, competition and a trend brought on by expatriate teachers from countries where it is common.

Some schools have recorded more than 60 per cent of their students from Grade 10 upwards seeking after-school support for subjects including mathematics, physics and English. The phenomenon is present in both the public and private education system in the country.

According to the Abu Dhabi Department for Economic Development, 27 per cent of Emirati families spend Dh1,436 per month on private tuitions which works out to 4.8 per cent of their household expenditure on an average.

Professor Mark Bray, author of the Confronting the shadow education system: what government policies for what private tutoring?, said social drivers like an image that needs to be upheld by parents, especially among Emirati families, fuels the private tutoring business.

"Some parents feel that they are being a good parent if they send their children for tuitions and if they do not they have a finger pointing at them," he said at the Dubai School of Government.

For his book, Bray researched the private tutoring scenario in East Asia, Africa, Western Europe. North America and Australia. Also called shadow education, it plays a major complementary role to the education system in South Korea, India and China and is fast catching on in the US and Europe as well.

Another factor that contributes to the phenomenon is the prevalence of expatriate teachers where private lessons is a norm. "Expatriate teachers that come from countries where there is a huge demand for tutoring and the society accepts it, bring their baggage with them and that is where Dubai is receiving the culture of another country," said the professor who between 2006 to 2010 was also the Director of the UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris.

However, private tutoring cannot be eliminated from a system where students of varied capabilities are educated in the same classroom. "It's a good thing if it helps a child catch up with peers," Bray stated.

"It's bad when it begins to create social inequalities and when it begins to burden the household income."

Many teachers supplement their income with private lessons and Bray said it could corrupt the education system.

"It's bad when it begins to create social inequalities and when it begins to burden the household income."

Many teachers supplement their income with private lessons and Bray said it could corrupt the education system.

Private tuitions can cost anywhere between Dh100 to Dh1,000 for hourly sessions.

In some cases, educators have found students performance deteriorating after they began private lessons after school.

As an assistant principal of the American International School in Dubai, Dr Khadeegha Alzouebi introduced a Study Support Programme at the school earlier this year, after finding a large number of high school students seeking private tuitions in Calculus and Physics.

After school, teachers of those subjects stay back and tutor students who require extra classes within the school premises.

" The classes are given at a reduced rate to the parents," she said.

"So, a private tuition outside that would cost them anywhere between Dhs100 to Dh200 for an hour are being provided at Dh50 to them at school."

According to her, such after-school programmes are better monitored and avoid fraudulent practices.

"The teacher need not continue the practice in hiding for fear of being caught as well," she added.

Private tutoring is banned in the UAE, but cannot be effectively monitored. Brays said it cannot be eliminated but can be regulated in the country.

"Firstly the government must figure out what is going on and why," he said.

"Professional discussions need to be held with schools and find out why students are reacting in certain ways."

"There is also a need to raise awareness with parents and address the concept that you are a good parent if you send them for tuitions."

By Afshan Ahmed

Tutoring

Saturday, August 28, 2010

“Tutoring project expands to include four schools” plus 3 more

“Tutoring project expands to include four schools” plus 3 more

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