9th April 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A voluntary tutoring programme in Cambridge Massachusetts has been running for over 50 years, and, according to its executive director, is the best kept secret in Cambridge. Reported in the Cambridge Chronicle, recently a group of 4th grade students were struggling, and failing in nearly every subject, but after just a term of one-to-one tuition, every student has received good grades in every subject.
The organisation, Tutoring Plus, has been in Cambridge since 1964, and provides extra help to students from the 4th to the 12th grade. They rely on volunteers, schools and the local housing authority to provide help, and serve students in the community who otherwise wouldn’t have access to extra tuition. There are just over 200 volunteers who tutor for the programme, many of whom work for large companies such as Genzyme and Google.
One volunteer, Bobbi Lemay, says that the strength of the programme is the way that tutors and students are matched together. Ellen, McLaughlin, the executive director, said that they take time to get to know each student and tutor to make that match work, and that the tutoring commitment is a deep one, to the student and the student’s family.
Tutors with Tutoring Plus undergo training before starting to teach, and they are required to devote an hour a week for middle school students, or an hour and a half for high school students. Also, each tutor must commit to the arrangement for at least one term.