Teach Effectively!

There’s apparently a great need for tutors who can help students from schools that NCLB requires to provide tutoring, according to a story in the Washington Post (DC, US) by Amy Goldstein. Ms Goldstein’s story, “Mandate Aside, Private Tutors Aren’t Always An Option: When Education Firms Say No, Rural Schools Find It Hard to Obey ‘No Child,’” focuses on difficulties sercuring tutors in rural areas. It points to, but doesn’t detail, the potential problem with schools using tutoring services that are available.

With such scanty options, some schools have turned to grass-roots tutoring companies that have sprung up with little track record, such as a small Arkansas firm started by a former basketball player. Some are trying online tutors. But many, such as Mandaree, are doing nothing at all.

“For us, it’s sort of a fake help, because it’s just not there,” said Linda McCullough, superintendent of public instruction in Montana, where 20 of the 14,000 eligible students this year at 66 schools are getting the tutoring the federal government envisions.

I need to learn what the qualifications are for tutoring companies. If you know, please let me know.

Link to Ms. Golstein’s article.