Progress Reports Are Due. And Tutors Are Ready for Parents Who Realize It’s . . .

Parents who are still paying the bills for back-to-school clothes, lunch boxes, binders, backpacks and calculators may soon find themselves facing one more expense: hiring a tutor.

The need usually shows up when students’ first progress reports come out in October and the signs of academic trouble become sadly official.

That’s when Rosemarie Solis’ phone at Villa Park High School starts ringing with requests for the school’s tutor list. The directory is popular not only with Villa Park parents, but with parents of foundering students from nearby private and elementary schools too, Solis said.

At Foothill High School in Santa Ana, guidance secretary Theresa Duran estimates that she hands out 400 copies of the school’s tutor list each year.

As with Villa Park’s, the list gives parents the names and phone numbers of tutors--both students who excel in a subject and adults who make their living as private teachers.

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.

“Research shows that one-on-one intervention is the most powerful tool out there,” said Bobbi Fisher of the Reading Center at Chapman University, which offers the expertise of future teachers enrolled in a reading class to tutor community youngsters.

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, and through high school counseling offices and teacher preparation programs at colleges.

John F. Dean, county superintendent of schools, suggests starting with the math and science departments at colleges for help with those subjects, or asking for suggestions from the person who should know the most about your child as a student: the classroom teacher.

Technically, anyone can be a tutor. There is no national accreditation program, although the National Tutoring Assn. is working on one.

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 clients year-round to make sure that they bring home A’s instead of Bs.

Barnett offers a number of suggestions for those looking to hire a tutor.

She believes a teaching credential is important, though it will be more costly for the student. Adults typically charge $20 to $45 an hour, compared to $5 to $15 an hour for peer tutors.

Parents should ask potential tutors about their experience and find out if they come to the house or the student goes to them, Barnett said. And they should try to find a tutor whose personality meshes with the child’s.

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

Experts like Barbara Abouchar of Homework House, whose volunteers offer free tutoring to elementary and high school students at sites in Placentia and Orange, don’t believe that a teaching credential is a requirement. A top high school or college student may be all you need to help with your child, Abouchar said.

When it comes to reading, though, the former schoolteacher believes that tutors should have experience. She recommends asking for references, then making sure that the prospective tutor can develop a rapport with the student and instill a positive attitude about learning.

Another way to find the right person is to ask around. Mark Shearer, a tutor based in Orange, said word-of-mouth is how most of his clients find him.

“Find someone who has a tutor or has had one in the past, and you’ll have a good idea of how well the tutor does,” said Shearer, who was a junior high math whiz and started coaching other students at a school counselor’s suggestion. Now a math major at Cal State Fullerton, Shearer tutors 10 to 12 hours a week.

Though he never promises results and emphasizes comprehension over grades, Shearer said that almost all of his clients show improvement in their marks.

Good tutoring can also change a child’s outlook on learning, teachers and parents say.

Jessica Flores, now a sixth-grader at Spurgeon Intermediate in Santa Ana, is a case in point. She was a fourth-grader reading at third-grade level when her parents discovered Homework House. Jessica has spent six hours a week in tutoring sessions for the last two years. Now she is working at grade level and has gone from being a child who hated to read to one who eagerly reads on her own, said her mother, Irene Flores.

“She used to say, ‘Mama, I can’t do it.’ She wanted me to do the work and she would copy it. Now, she says, ‘I know I can do it.’ ”

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What to Ask

Here are some questions to ask when interviewing tutor candidates:

* What is your main area of expertise?

* How much experience do you have?

* Have you worked with students the age of my child?

* How much do you charge?

* How quickly would my child progress?

* Would you come to our house, or would I bring my child to you?

* Would you be willing to coordinate efforts with my child’s classroom teacher?

Source: Times research