The ABCs of Tutoring

This is crunch time in one of America’s growth industries.

As the first few weeks of school fade like yearbook memories, some parents confront the painful fact that their son or daughter isn’t making it in one or more subjects. Many turn to a tried-and-true method for help, to a person who might just manage to demystify math: the tutor.

Parents looking for help need not panic.

There are many options available, and most can be counted on to at least help get your student a passing grade. Or, in some cases, excel.

Families with low or moderate incomes can take advantage of free tutoring offered by volunteers and students. Many parents turn to their local high school for help, and most have a ready list of tutors.

At Ventura High School, for example, teens can get help from their peers in the California Scholarship Federation program. Students tutor others as part of the honor society’s requirements.

There are about 20 students in the program, and their free assistance proves vital to many students each year, said counselor Francisco Castillo.

Sometimes, teachers volunteer their time. For example, math teachers often hold free “math nights” during the week for any student who wants some extra help.

Whenever possible, Castillo prefers to match students with other students: “That seems to work very well,” he said, noting that students seem to respond better to other teenagers. “Their peers can understand what their problems are.”

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For those who can afford to pay, colleges can also be helpful with referrals, and there are numerous private tutoring firms in Ventura County that offer good programs. Many tutors are also hired through word-of-mouth between parents and teachers.

Ventura resident Sonya French got her start as a tutor by helping her peers for free.

As a student at Ventura High, French offered a helping hand to friends who were struggling in math. As demand grew for her services, she started charging.

French, 23, now tutors four youngsters a week--ranging in age from 7 to 16--while going to school full time at UC Santa Barbara.

“I am pretty patient with kids, and that’s a big key,” she said. “But I think you really need to understand the concept of what they are doing and spot exactly what they are not understanding.”

Some tutors volunteer to help children of the county’s poorest families.

At Project Understanding, an agency dedicated to serving poor and homeless people, tutors have been helping needy kids for some time. The program, established in the Avenue area of Ventura 15 years ago, now serves more than 100 students in one-on-one sessions at three locations.

Many of the students live in low-income homes or in low-rent motels, said coordinator Lynn Nelson. Although the tutoring is always helpful, some students take a long time to show progress, being in some cases years behind, and usually turned off at the thought of school and education as a result of their experiences.

One thing Project Understanding shares with most free tutoring programs is a constant struggle to gather a reliable cadre of volunteers. Their labor pool includes members of area churches, as well as college and high school students.

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“We are never at a loss for students, but we always need volunteers,” Nelson said.

Specialists say demand for tutors, once hired only for wealthy children or the woefully slow, is on the rise. Nationwide, tutoring is a $1.1-billion-a-year business and growing, said Mike Zenanko, coordinator of the Teaching Learning Center at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and an executive committee member of the National Tutoring Assn.

Crowded classrooms make it impossible for teachers to offer much one-on-one help, experts say, and parents often lack either the time or the temperament to tutor their children successfully. So, when students are struggling, parents increasingly are turning to tutors.

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But how do you find a good tutor? What questions should you ask when you interview prospects? What kind of progress should you expect your child to make, and how much can you expect to pay?

There are several places to begin your search. Tutors are listed on the Internet (https://www.tutor2000.com), in the phone book, through high school counseling offices and teacher preparation programs at colleges.

Tutors generally fall into three categories: peer or student tutors; credentialed teachers; and those who have working knowledge of a specific topic, such as an engineer offering help in math, said Barbara Barnett of College Guidance.

Her national company, based in Villa Park, helps students with the college admissions process and works with many of its clients year-round to make sure that they bring home A’s instead of Bs.

Barnett thinks a tutor should have a teaching credential, though it will cost the student more. Adults typically charge $20 to $45 an hour, compared to $5 to $15 an hour for peer tutors.

As for progress, Barnett and others say if you don’t see results almost immediately, find another tutor. But don’t expect miracles: Jumping one letter grade is not unusual, but jumping two is a stretch.

Times correspondent Lynn O’Dell contributed to this article.