The article published below is further reinforcement of the EleMental Learning philosophy that the mass marketed curriculums (typically comprised of worksheets and repetition) offered by national tutoring chains cannot possibly be applied universally to a broad cross section of students. This is why EleMental Learning has stayed out of the NCLB tutoring scene. We refuse to mass produce "a program" that will be generically fed to students. We think the students deserve individual attention, a customized program, and recognition that not all students think and operate in the same way. In short, they deserve better than what NCLB and the national 'tutoring chains" that staff the NCLB after school programs can offer.
If you or somebody you know has a child who has participated in a No Child Left Behind after school program, please add a comment below with your thoughts on the effectiveness of the program.
-L.S.
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Free Tutoring Failing to Help Needy Kids
USA Today, March 26
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Federally mandated public after-school tutoring isn't always reaching the children it's intended to help, research suggests -- and when it does, it doesn't always help as much as it could. Findings from three cities presented here Tuesday before the American Educational Research Association support previous research on the free tutoring that schools must offer under the No Child Left Behind law if math and reading levels don't rise for three years.
But new data from Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee find that few children take up the offer. In Milwaukee, 90% of students who registered in 2003 attended sessions. By 2006, only 34% did. In Milwaukee, researchers found no rise in scores. One reason, says Patricia Burch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, could be that, in many sessions, tutors used "uninspired practices," such as handing out worksheets. Researchers in L.A. found similar results, though children tutored for several years did better; in Pittsburgh, tutors got better results grouping students by achievement level rather than grade level.
Charles Barone, who analyzed the findings for the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, says some of the programs "are terrible and should be terminated." But, he says, others are working and should be supported. Barone, a former congressional staffer who helped write No Child Left Behind, adds, "It's kind of a high bar for an after-school program, to have to improve academic achievement." He notes that a Clinton-era program was lauded for keeping students safe and occupied after school. "I'd say this is a higher bar than what we've previously had for after-school." http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-03-25-tutoring_N.htm