Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Tutor Program Offered by Law Is Going Unused [re No Child] (NYT)
NYT ^ | Feb. 12, 2006 | Susan Saulny

Posted on 02/12/2006 7:15:16 AM PST by summer

Four years after President Bush signed the landmark No Child Left Behind education law, vast numbers of students are not getting the tutoring that the law offers as one of its hallmarks.

In the nation's largest school district, New York City, fewer than half of the 215,000 eligible students sought the free tutoring, according to figures from the city's Department of Education for the school year that ended in June 2005.

In one area of the city, District 19 in eastern Brooklyn, about 3,700 students completed a tutoring program last year, even though more than 13,000 students qualified.

Yet New York's participation rate is better than the national average: across the country, roughly two million public school students were eligible for free tutoring in the school year that ended in 2004, according to the most recent data from the Department of Education, yet only 226,000 — or nearly 12 percent — received help.

City and state education officials and tutoring company executives disagree on the reasons for the low participation and cast blame on each other. But they agree that the numbers show that states and school districts have not smoothed out the difficulties that have plagued the tutoring — known as the supplemental educational services program — from its start as a novel experiment in educational entrepreneurship: largely private tutoring paid for with federal money.

Officials give multiple reasons for the problems: that the program is allotted too little federal money, is poorly advertised to parents, has too much complicated paperwork for signing up, and that it has not fully penetrated the most difficult neighborhoods, where there are high concentrations of poor, failing students....

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: education; nclb; nochild; pspl; tutoring
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-79 next last
To: bboop

I worked for a year in a wonderful country school. The principal was in his last year. He looked at the absense report and then got in his car and went to the places he knew truants would be and brought them to school. Big and bureaucratic schools are not nearly as effective as neighborhood schools under local control.


21 posted on 02/12/2006 9:45:54 AM PST by ClaireSolt (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: dufekin

Although I worked in a lot of different schools around the country, there is only one story I know about teachers who don't teach. In about 1970 my mother went to my brother's high school and a disgruntled white teacher informed he that he was just not going to bother to teach because the school was being racially integrated. Maybe that was widespread and created an atmosphere where it was accepted. Then, of course, with racial and ethnic preferances in teacher hiring we got a lot of teachers who just didn't know anything, but I think the standards movement may be counteracting that.


22 posted on 02/12/2006 9:51:48 AM PST by ClaireSolt (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: bboop
What about being responsible for your kids to get them to this wonderful, free thing that they have the opportunity to have? an education. Why is it always the government's fault?? Does not make sense.

Well, you have some points, too. Thanks for your post.
23 posted on 02/12/2006 10:07:39 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: summer
First of all, in school districts having poor students who are coming to school by bus: these kids do not stay after school for anything because they will have no transportation home if they do.

In these programs money is provided for transportation home. My local school has such a program after school and before school. The NCLB money pays for teachers and transportation.

24 posted on 02/12/2006 10:09:39 AM PST by Thoeting
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ClaireSolt

My favorite school where I once taught was located in a rural area, too. The parents were very interested and involved in their children's education, and constantly gave me small gifts of appreciation. All the teachers at that public school enrolled their own kids there as well. It was a very good experience for me as a teacher. Not at all like experiences I have had in urban schools.


25 posted on 02/12/2006 10:10:29 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Thoeting

That's quite interesting -- I am wondering if that money has to be applied for somehow and no one has applied, or what the story is because I have never, ever seen a late bus connected with any of these programs.


26 posted on 02/12/2006 10:11:27 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: summer

bump


27 posted on 02/12/2006 10:12:36 AM PST by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VOA

Thanks for your post #17, VOA. :)


28 posted on 02/12/2006 10:12:49 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: summer

I agree -- the large urban schools (here in LA) have tremendous problems, partly because of their size, that the smaller schools just don't have. It must be wonderful to teach in a small, neighborhood school?


29 posted on 02/12/2006 10:14:00 AM PST by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: bboop
It was a small, neighborhood school, yes. And, like any school, you will have some kids who are a much bigger handful than others. But, this school had uniforms and overall, the students were extremely well behaved. It was the closest I have ever seen a public school be to a private school in many regards. And, again, we had a lot of parental involvement, which just makes a teacher's life so much easier. I think I knew almost every parent in that school.

It's interesting that Bill Gates and his wife are pushing for more small schools in urban areas. I have seen NYC coming out with a list of new small schools they are starting with Gates foundation money.

But, I am somewhat reluctant to believe a city like New York will actually find the space and dedication to maintain a "small" school such as the kind I am talking about. It seems to me these small schools may start out with good intentions, however, are just a few months away from overcrowding and other problems that quickly find their way into urban schools.

Maybe I am just being too downbeat or something. i would like to hear from any teacher actually working in a new "small" school located in an urban area, especially NY. That idea appeals to me in a big way but I just don't quite believe it actually exists.
30 posted on 02/12/2006 10:19:49 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: summer
Good point. The money is allocated, but there is not a whole lot of oversight. The school could very well be using that money for other thing.

Teachers are being paid $40 an hour to tutor in this program! I was surprised the hourly rate was so high. Maybe the school you are thinking of is putting more money per hour?? It would be a good honest question to ask.

31 posted on 02/12/2006 10:21:05 AM PST by Thoeting
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: summer
Me too! I taught at a wonderful rural middle school for several years. The parents were incredible and the kids did so well. We had Christmas plays and religious music and no one batted an eye.

When we moved, that school was one of the things I missed most.

32 posted on 02/12/2006 10:22:41 AM PST by Thoeting
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Thoeting

$40 an hour?! Wow! The pay offered by the private tutoring company coming to my school was MUCH lower. MUCH less!


33 posted on 02/12/2006 10:22:48 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Thoeting

Re your post #32 - LOL! Maybe that's what I need to do; move out to a rural area, once and for all!!!


34 posted on 02/12/2006 10:23:36 AM PST by summer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: summer
In every school district I know of, I have never seen nor heard anyone mention the "late bus." Kids today have to rely on their parents for transportation if these students miss the bus, and some kids' parents either work, have no car or are not available.

I spent last Fall at a low performing school. They were required to offer tutoring. There was a late bus available, but most children did walk to school anyway. Only about half of the students who were offered tutoring, took advantage of it. I don't know why. Tutoring did seem to make an impact for the kids who attended.

The school did everything they could do to "encourage" the tutoring. Kids who showed up for tutoring most of the time got lunches out and prizes for improvement. Kids identified for tutoring could not participate in ANY afterschool activity if they chose not to be tutored.

This same school was obligated to notify parents that their children could go to other district schools, transportation paid for by the district, NOT ONE parent took advantage of that. None of the schools in the district were very good anyway.

35 posted on 02/12/2006 10:40:42 AM PST by Dianna
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: latina4dubya

Because that money is not paid to the union members of the NEA. Period.


36 posted on 02/12/2006 11:00:54 AM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: bboop
What about being responsible for your kids to get them to this wonderful, free thing that they have the opportunity to have?

I agree. I think the main reason that the tutoring program isn't being utilized is that many kids these days don't want to learn. The ones that need the tutoring are the ones that are least likely to invest any energy into bettering themselves. (Otherwise, they wouldn't need tutoring! A catch-22.)

I taught for a brief time in a private school and most of the kids there wanted A's without having to do any work. I'd say about 5% were motivated. And this was at a private school where the parents spent big bucks for their kids to learn. I think all education in this country has gone so far downhill, it'll take massive changes to revive it. I was expecting kids/parents/standards like when I went to school 25 years ago, and was shocked to see how little is expected of these kids in math and science. No wonder Japan and most other countries are beating us in all the international math and science tests for the past decade! We should be really embarassed....
37 posted on 02/12/2006 11:01:31 AM PST by Serenissima Venezia (U.S. a 3rd world soon: not educating enough scientists/engineers and being invaded by illegals)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: summer

that the program is allotted too little federal money,
---

LOL! How unpredictable.


38 posted on 02/12/2006 11:04:45 AM PST by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/israel_palestine_conflict.htm)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: summer

They're complaining that it's not advertised. How much expense would be involved if a teacher tucked a note into the report cards of students who are not doing well? Or better yet, mailed it to the parents telling them about the program.


39 posted on 02/12/2006 11:19:01 AM PST by McGavin999 (If Intelligence Agencies can't find leakers, how can we expect them to find terrorists?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: bill1952
Because that money is not paid to the union members of the NEA.

but if teachers did the tutoring, then it would... in fact, i'm surprised that the NEA has not come up with having tutors belong to the union...

40 posted on 02/12/2006 12:28:51 PM PST by latina4dubya
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-79 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson