How to Choose a Tutor (Or Other Education Service Provider)

The Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CCLD) offers the following suggestions:

1. Explain to your child why you think a tutor is needed and what a tutor does. Talk about what you hope will be accomplished with a tutor.
2. Ask your child’s teacher or other parents for recommendations. Consider interviewing several tutors with your child. (If your child is a part of the process, he/she will be more open to accepting help.)
3. Check the tutor’s credentials. Ask about training, experience, and references. It is important that the tutor is a certified teacher or has expertise in the subject being taught. Find out whether the person has experience working with students at your child’s grade level. If the tutor is working with a child with a learning disability, it is essential that he/she has been trained to use appropriate techniques that can address the student’s special needs.
4. Set clear goals for the tutoring and request a description of the tutoring plan. Whenever possible, ask your child’s teacher to participate in the design of this plan so that it links to school work. Try to create a partnership between you, your child’s teacher, and the tutor.
5. If possible, schedule tutoring for the times of the day when your child is ready to learn. After-school hours are the most common time for tutoring but this is also when students are tired or distracted by other activities. Allow for much-needed breaks from the school routine.
6. For students with a learning disability, consider scheduling more than one lesson a week. Students with learning disabilities often need practice and repetition to master skills. Also, remember that it takes time to see improvement, so do not expect a quick fix.
7. Observe your child working with the tutor. The session should include hands-on learning and be very interactive. The tutor should be guiding your child through direct teaching and guided practice.
8. Request periodic reports from both the tutor and your child’s teacher. There should be noticeable academic improvement within a few months.

The following suggestions for selecting a tutor come from LD OnLine:

1. It is essential that a student with learning disabilities work with a tutor trained to use the appropriate multisensory techniques. Be sure to ask about training, experience, and references.
2. There must be a good rapport between the tutor and student. Give the relationship a chance to develop (about eight lessons) but if it doesn’t, look for another tutor.
3. Plan tutoring for the time of day that the student is fresh and ready to learn. Tutoring is an intense learning experience and you want to take every advantage of it. Many younger students are at their best before school and many schools will facilitate tutoring during the school day.
4. Set the goals of tutoring with the tutor. Be sure you are both clear about whether you are focusing on remedial work, content subjects, or how to study. Resist the temptation to try to accomplish too much.
5. Schedule a minimum of two lessons a week. Students with learning disabilities need practice and repetition to master their lessons and it takes time to see improvement.
6. It is better to have lessons that are more frequent over a short period than to spread the same number of lessons over a longer period because the student will make slow progress and become more discouraged.
7. If you do not know a skilled tutor, an organization dedicated to working with the learning disabled will be able to find a tutor with the right background and will have the resources necessary to support the tutor’s work.
8. Arrange to talk with the tutor periodically to monitor progress, when the child is not present.
9. Ask the student’s teacher to talk with the tutor. Teachers feel reassured to know that someone is helping a student and they are working toward common goals.
10. Tell your child why she/he is getting tutoring and what you hope to accomplish so that she/he will feel hopeful rather than stupid.