10 Bay Area Students Need Your Help Before December 31st

"No doubt [a tutor] will provide an encouraging spirit to those who have lost hope on these subjects. I hope they not only help me but teach me to muster all efforts to accomplish academic goals." - Rachel, 11th grade scholarship applicant

"I am an unemployed parent. I have three other children and live off $1,000 monthly. I believe that all children deserve to have an opportunity to better their life, especially my daughter. Danielle is a great worker and takes pride in what she does." - Mother of scholarship applicant

By now, you’ve probably seen our video featuring Ashanti and her tutor Sarah. Ashanti is one of more than one hundred students who have received free tutoring through the Tutorpedia Foundation. We've been fortunate to have so many committed donors and supporters, and we're incredibly grateful.

This year, we received twice as many scholarship applications as last year. While several students have been matched with tutors and are making great progress, we need additional funding to provide scholarships for the remaining 10 students whose tutoring we have not yet been able to fund. Starting today, we need your help to make sure that these ten very deserving students like Rachel have the chance to work with their own tutor for the rest of this school year. By donating now, you’ll help us fund life-changing scholarships for these students, and as an extra bonus you’ll help secure us a permanent place on GlobalGiving.org, where thousands of passionate donors like you can learn more about the Tutorpedia Foundation.

The GlobalGiving Open Challenge starts now, and they’ve set the goal for us of raising $4,000 from 50 individuals before the end of the year. We’re taking it a step further, and asking you to help us raise the full $10,000 we need to fund tutoring for our remaining scholarship students.
There are a number of ways to help us make this happen:

• Make a donation of any amount today on GlobalGiving
• Forward this email to family, friends, colleagues and others who care about providing educational opportunities to underserved students
• Share our project on Facebook, Twitter or another social media site with this link: http://bit.ly/tutorpediafoundation

Thank you for all of your support, we couldn’t do it without you.

How to Stay Involved in Your Child’s Education

Six Ways Parents Can Get Involved in Their Child’s Education at Home and at School

Guest Post by Tatyana Kuperman

Parents are the central figures in the lives of their children. In fact, parents have the MOST important influence on their child’s education and achievement in school. Researchers who study effects of parental involvement on children’s education and student achievement found that parental involvement in child and adolescent education generally benefits children’s learning and translates into academic gains in all grades (elementary school through high school). Across a range of studies, findings show that children whose parents are actively involved perform better in school, achieve greater academic success, and navigate more easily through some of the challenges of growing up. Moreover, children with involved parents also have higher self-esteem, increased motivation, better attitudes about school, and fewer behavioral problems.

Every day, parents have a fresh opportunity to get involved, increasing their child’s chances for success in school and beyond. Here is a list of six ways parents can get involved in their child’s education at home and at school.

Six Ways Parents Can Get Involved At Home:

1. Establish a daily family routine

• Plan a routine that works for you and your child and keep it consistent
• Provide time and quiet place to study (a study area should have good lighting, plenty of school supplies, books, pens/pencils, calculator, dictionary, and blank paper)
• Set aside specific amount of time for homework

2. Monitor out-of-school activities

• Set limits on TV watching and the use of technology (computers, Itouch/Ipad, etc.)
• Check-up on children when they are at home alone
• Arrange for after-school activities and supervised care

3. Model the value of learning, self-discipline, and hard work

• Communicate through questioning and conversation
• Demonstrate that achievement comes from hard work and dedication
• Provide opportunities to develop responsibility and self-discipline

4. Express high but realistic expectations for achievement

• Set goals and standards that are appropriate for child’s age and maturity level
• Recognize and encourage special talents (music, art, dance, etc.)
• Inform friends and family about success

5. Encourage your child’s development and learning progress

• Structure a home that is both educationally stimulating and supportive of your child’s school work
• Show genuine interest in your child’s work and progress at school
• Have child’s work on display at home, on the refrigerator, and in their room
• Help with homework and school projects
• Discuss the value of a good education and possible career/college options

6. Encourage reading and discussions among family members

• Read to your children and practice reading aloud
• Talk about what is being read
• Encourage the whole family to read
• Have an open family discussion about reading
• Build love for reading as a family

Six Ways Parents Can Get Involved At School:

1. Get to know your child’s teacher and form a partnership

• Set-up a time to speak with your child’s teacher and schedule regular parent-teacher meetings in advance
• Develop and maintain an on-going communication plan with your child’s teacher (weekly emails, phone calls, check-up times, and regular parent-teacher conferences)
• Ask your child’s teacher what you can do to help at home
• Check-in about any troublesome issues
• Give your child’s teacher information about your child that is going to best help her/him to educate your child (Here is a video that shows how parents can communicate with teachers and create a strong parent-teacher relationship http://www.greatschools.org/improvement/parental-power/4249-Teaming-up-with-the-teacher-video.gs)

2. Check the school’s website, newsletter, and a bulletin board on the regular basis

• Check the school’s website for the latest school news and information (at some schools teachers develop their own web pages and post updates on homework assignments, field trips, and other information about your child’s classroom)
• Check the school’s newsletter and a bulletin board for any announcements and updates of what’s going on in the upcoming week/month (at some schools parents can subscribe to receive the school’s newsletter by email)

3. Become a school volunteer

• Help out in your child’s classroom or volunteer during special school events (school plays, concerts, talent shows, etc.)
• Offer to organize an event for your child’s classroom or the entire school
• Spend a day chaperoning school field trips

4. Attend a parent education workshop

• Meet other parents in the community and attend a workshop together (parent education workshop are the best way for parents to learn about available resources and share ideas on how to get involved and stay connected)
• Attend workshops on different topics (some great topics for school-age children include topics on “Bullying”, “Positive Parent-Child Communication”, and “Parenting in The Digital Age”)

5. Start a parent’s group and/or join a parent-school organization

• Attend school board meetings
• Join a local PTA (Parent Teacher Association) or PTO (Parent Teacher Organization)
• Become a member of your district’s parent advisory committee

6. Become a community leader

• Organize after school programs (mentorship programs, tutoring programs, parent education workshops, and school improvement projects)
• Set up a meeting with teachers, parents, and community members to discuss how you can work together to improve the neighborhood school and raise student achievement
• Collaborate with other community members and develop a “Family-School-Community Partnership Program”
• Reach out to parents who don’t usually participate and try to get them involved

Remember that most children need their parents’ support both at home and at school. The more intensely parents are involved in their child’s education, the more beneficial the achievement effects, student learning, and overall success in school. Bottom line: High and consistent parent involvement equals greater academic achievement (which also means higher grades, test scores and graduation rates).

Looking for more tips and resources on how to get involved? Check out these great websites that parents can use as resources and guides on how to get involved.

PARENTS’ GUIDE TO RESOURCES

www.ncpie.org - The National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education advocates the involvement of parents and families in their children’s education, and fosters relationships between home, school, and community to enhance the education of the entire nation’s young people.

www.parentinvolvementmatters.org - Parent Involvement Matters recognizes the strong link between meaningful family involvement and children’s success in school and in life. Parent Involvement Matters advocates for building collaborative parent-school communities that promote networking, communication, and problem-solving.

www.pta.org – Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation. PTA reminds our country of its obligations to children and provides parents and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child while providing the best tools for parents to help their children be successful students.

www.familyfriendlyschools.com – Family Friendly Schools is dedicated to helping schools and districts around the country to increase student achievement by developing networks of integrated relationships between leaderships, staff, and families that creates a culture of high performance and learning outcomes.

www.familiesandschools.org – Families and Schools is a nonprofit agency that designs and distributes family strengthening and parent involvement programs to help kids succeed in school and in life. Families and Schools develop programs that help families all across the world improve parenting skills and connect families to their schools.

www.parents4publicschools.org – Parents for Public Schools is a national organization of community-based chapters that promotes and strengthens public schools by engaging, educating, and mobilizing parents.

www.famlit.org – The National Center for Family Literacy inspires and engages families in the pursuit of education and learning together.

www.hfrp.org/family-involvement - The Harvard Family Research Project is committed to meeting the growing demands for information on effective ways to support family involvement in children’s learning and development.

www.parent-institute.com – The mission of The Parent Institute is to encourage parent involvement in the education of their children. The Parent Institute publishes a variety of materials including newsletters, booklets, audio CDs, brochures, videos and presentation kits.

www.edtrust.org – The Education Trust promotes high academic achievement for all students at all levels – pre-kindergarten through college. As part of its mission to raise the quality of education for all students, the Education Trust trains parents as Standards Bearers. It teaches parents what grade-level learning standards mean and how they can be used as tools for school reform.

www.piqe.org – Parent Institute for Quality Education creates partnerships between parents, students and educators to further student’s academic success. Their mission is t o bring schools, parents and communities together as equal partners in the education of every child.

www.ptotoday.com – This site networks parent-teacher organizations of all kids. PTO Today lists resources for parent group leaders and offers three products: a magazine, online discussion groups and PTO conference. Among its parent involvement suggestions are “School Family Nights”

www.psinnovation.org – The Project for School Innovation is an organization that has developed a series of books for parents and teachers. “Including Every Parent” highlights a model program of parent involvement that helps drive school success.

San Francisco Regional Centers and Resources

Parents For Public Schools – This is the site of a national organization with local chapters in many cities. They promote public schools and “A New Brand of Parent Involvement”

San Francisco Chapter of Parents for Public Schools – The San Francisco Chapter offers a downloadable Parent Involvement Handbook, an article on How to Market Your School and much more.

San Francisco Unified School District – The San Francisco Unified School District Web site showcases recipes by parents on how to complete various improvement projects.

Tatyana Kuperman is a child development specialist, parent educator, and a parenting coach. She supports parents in their remarkable journey of parenthood and is committed to helping parents become the best parents they can be. Tatyana's mission is to strengthen families by empowering parents to live happy, healthy, and well-balanced lives. She offers variety of education and coaching services for parents with children of all ages. For more information on Parent Education Workshops click here or visit www.TatyanaKuperman.com.

Dan Pink on Motivation: Not as Predictable As You'd Think

What motivates us? The traditional answer is that we are motivated by incentives. In practice, for adults those incentives tend to be money, prestige, and material goods. For students they might include grades, admission to the college of their choice, a free weekend even.

Last week, we stumbled upon an RSA Animate video adapted from Dan Pink's talk on motivation. In the talk, Dan exposes a scientific truth about motivation that is not widely discussed. Namely, that traditional incentives do not work when cognitive function is required. Dan concedes that for straightforward tasks, material rewards and incentives have the desired effect of increasing motivation. However, he points out, when the task at hand requires creative problem solving, incentives actually decrease motivation and result in poorer outcomes.

Dan focuses on the implications of this finding for businesses: how to motivate employees and keep them happy. Our thoughts turned to education. Nothing requires more cognitive, creative function than learning, and if traditional incentives are ineffective, it's critical that we, as educators, find out what is.

According to the Dan's explanation, the three cornerstones of increasing both satisfaction and performance in employees are: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Why these three things? Because when someone feels self-motivated, competent, and focused, they are happier and more likely to be productive. When we apply this model to students, the similarities can't be ignored. So the question becomes, how do we give students a sense of ownership over their educational outcomes?

At Tutorpedia, we often recall the four R's of modern education: education should be real, relevant, rigorous, and built on relationships. If these pillars are in place, Dan Pink's trifecta of motivation should follow. So how does that look for an educator, a teacher or a tutor? The truth is that thinking this way requires a significant shift. We can no longer assume that the good grade alone will be enough to truly motivate a student to learn. Instead, it is now our job to help the student become his or her own biggest educational advocate; to give them autonomy in their academic pursuits. Rather than pouring content into students' brains, we have to step back and figure out how to instill a lifelong love of learning in a student.

In a teacher-student relationship, autonomy does not mean complete independence. It means collaboration. When an educator is able to empower a student both to understand the relevance of the material and to challenge themselves to master it, the improvement itself will be enough to motivate the student to push forward. Mastery in this context means embracing and believing in the ability to improve.

Increasingly, Dan notes, both people and organizations want their actions to be informed by a purpose. There is no formula to this, but we believe that if we can help students realize their purpose; what it means to them to be a part of the world, perhaps we can help support healthy learning and, as Dan says, "get past the ideology of carrots and sticks." It might not be easy, but it will certainly be worthwhile.

Check out the video and share your thoughts:

American Teacher: An Index

Percentage of students of color in US public schools: 35
Percentage of teachers of color in US public schools: 15
Percentage of male teachers in US public schools: 16
Economic benefit, per student's lifetime earnings, of a good teacher: $20,000
Economic benefit, per class, of a good teacher: $400,000
Avg. starting, and ending, salary for US teachers: $37,000; $57,000
Percentage of teachers in US who leave the profession within 5 years: 45
Cost of teacher turnover, in dollars per year, to the US economy: $7,340,000,000
Percentage of teachers in S. Korea, Singapore, and Finland, respectively, who leave the profession each year: 1, 2, 3
Rank of student achievement in S. Korea, Singapore, and Finland, respectively: 1, 2, 3

I saw a great movie last month, American Teacher, produced by author-educator-filmmaker Dave Eggers, and his partner at 826 Valencia, Ninive Calegari, that was simultaneously maddening and uplifting. The documentary spotlights five teachers, and was the latest in the education-as-movie genre to stir teachers, parents, and policy wonks in the debate over how to fix our public schools. The film was different, however, in its direct call-to-action: we need to recruit, develop, and pay our teachers more. More than any other factor - more than class size, more than technology, more than charter school autonomy - a quality teacher at the front of the classroom is the single most important factor that improves student achievement.

The movie is screening again November 21st at The Roxie in San Francisco, and I encourage all who care deeply about our students, our education system, and our future, to watch it. You may just want to join the conversation, and become a teacher yourself.

It's College App Time!

For many the end of Halloween signifies the beginning of the big holiday season push. For us, however, and for millions of high school seniors, this time of year is connected to something even more important: college applications.

Fall of senior year can be an incredibly stressful time in a student's life. Not only are seniors working hard to keep their grades up and score high marks on the SATs, they're also faced with the new challenge of putting together applications that highlight all of the amazing things they've done over the past 17 years or so. It can be a daunting task.

Luckily, help is available. Our November deal offers 10% off tutoring services that can ease the process both for students and parents. This includes tutoring on the SAT, study skills, and college essay writing. Our tutors have been able to help students through the process and give them they tools they need to get into the college of their choice. Russ, the parent of a Menlo School graduate writes, "Hannah is headed to Princeton and I am happy to report that it would not have occurred without [Tutorpedia]'s tutoring in AP Chem. Thanks." Find your tutor now!

We'll also be doing a couple of free talks in the Bay Area for parents or students thinking about or in the midst of the college application process. We hope you can join us for one or both of the following talks:

Saturday November 5th: Tutorpedia's Director of Education, David Taus talks about the college application process. Talk will take place from 10 AM to 12 PM and will include a Q & A session. Location: Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Berkeley (at 9th and University). The event is put on in conjunction with the Berkeley High School African American Parents Group. For more information, email emma@tutorpedia.com.

Sunday November 6th: Tutorpedia Founder, Seth Linden talks about The SAT & Beyond in a combined seminar that explores skills that translate beyond the Big Test and discusses the underlying mechanisms of brain function. The talk will take place from 1-3 PM at the Marin JCC. More information here.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons ajagendorf25

New Tutoring Offering: SAT & Study Skills Workshop

Starting in October, we'll be offering a special kind of tutoring focusing specifically on study skills for the SAT and for High School Prep.

For those seeking admission to competitive colleges, SAT performance can improve or diminish their chances of success. Through focused SAT tutoring, teens are provided with high-quality SAT preparation and general study skills to position them for success in taking SATs. They learn how to become more desirable candidates for admission to the school(s) of their choice plus study skills to help them succeed throughout high school, college and beyond.

The High School Prep tutoring will provide middle school students with hands-on practice to prepare them for high school applications. They'll learn essential skills for succeeding in middle school classes and putting together an effective application for competitive high schools.

This specialized tutoring can be one-on-one or conducted in small groups of two to three students. To sign up, contact us!

Tutorpedia Carries on Oprah, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates’ Legacy: Education is Our Current Civil Rights Movement

Check out our press in the SF Chronicle!

Deal o’ the month: 15% off packages purchased in September

Happy September, parents! You still have a few weeks left to catch our monthly promotion: 15% off all tutoring packages purchased by Sept 30! Package hours don’t expire, and can be used for any combination of subjects and tutors, shared between siblings, or even transferred to friends or donated to Foundation students. The deal ends Sept 30, so if you're thinking about signing up for tutoring this year, now's a great time to start! Just give us a call.

(See our pricing page for standard rates and packages...then subtract 15%!)

Back To School FUNraiser October 5th!

Educating Kids Has Never Sounded So Good!

Our Back to School FUNraiser event is going down on October 5 at CAFE DU NORD in San Francisco. This classic SF music venue has a full bar and serves food, plus a big back room to hang, schmooze, and check out our auction items.

We have an awesome line-up that includes Spoken Word by DRE from Youth Speaks, Music Performance by NADINE, and Local Bands GUELLA and ANTIOQUA, plus a LIVE auction and raffle with tons of cool stuff... all this for just a $10 door entry! All proceeds go directly to benefit free 1-1 tutoring for low-income Bay Area students.
Benefit Schedule:

7:30 Doors
8:00 Spoken Word by Dre from Youth Speaks
8:15 Music Performance by Nadine
8:45 Live Auction
9:30 Guella
10:30 Raffle
10:45 Antioquia

For more information about the Tutorpedia Foundation, visit www.tutorpediafoundation.org. Sign up for tickets at http://tktwb.tw/tutorpedia.

You can check out our featured bands for the night:
Guella: http://www.guellamusic.com/
Antioquia: http://www.antioquia-band.com/

The Tutorpedia Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in San Francisco. Our mission is to provide high-quality, personalized tutoring and related education services to low-income students in the Bay Area, at no cost to the student or their family. In the long term, we are helping to close the achievement gap, improve graduation rates, and prepare more young people for college and beyond.

Updated Auction Items:

• Napa excursion to Frog's Leap, Robert Mondavi, and Round Pond vineyards (includes tour, tasting, and bottle of wine from each vineyard!)
  
• 6-month VIP World's Gym membership
• Goat Hill Pizza (large pizza)
• The Ramp (lunch for two)
• "Exquisite facial treatment" from Le Sanctuaire
• $100 to sports basement
• $50 arch drafting supplies
• Free laundry for a month from Laundry Locker
  
• 4 tickets to legion of honor
• 4 tickets to academy of sciences
• 2 tickets to A.C.T
• 4 tickets to Oakland A's
• 6 bottles Sonoma Coast wine
• Palm Pre
• Photography session by Emily Payne
• Canvas photo by Tutorpedia's Founder, Seth Linden

Grand Prize Raffle:

• Weekend Getaway in Mendocino!

Check out our latest video: http://vimeo.com/29639113
And press: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tutorpedia-Carries-on-Oprah-bw-3990575007.html?x=0&.v=1

Event managed and produced by LeConcierge SF. Publicity by i4-d.

Sponsored by Jones Day, Citibank, and DZH Phillips.

Tutorpedia in the Community

In case you missed it, Tutorpedia was featured in the August issue of the Potrero View-- a local paper highlighting our local business and our work with Bay Area students. Read the article here!

A+ for Fresno County School Superintendent

We at Tutorpedia believe in relationships as the core of academic success, in part because when students have a personal relationship with their teachers and tutors, they are more personally invested in learning and participating in their school community. In addition, we believe that educators can be important role models for their students. Young people may not always seem to be paying attention, but they really are sponges and often learn more from watching the example set by adults in their lives than they do by listening to their words.

That’s why today we applaud Fresno County Superintendent Larry Powell, who at 63 years old has given up $800,000 of his own salary over the next 3 years to free up that money for the school district. Here’s someone who is really invested in his community and looking for ways to support the learning of all the students in his district. What a great example to set for young people!

A+.

(photo courtesy of chicago sun times)

Teachers and Principals Cheat on Tests

In Atlanta, GA, a state investigation into 44 schools, involving at least 178 teachers and administrators, found rampant cheating on school test score results. Educators tampered with their students’ scores, “earning” praise for the improvements in difficult school districts.

Washington D.C. standardized tests have been found to have a suspicious number of erasures, with wrong answers changed to right ones. Principals and teachers received huge bonuses for their schools’ rising achievement on the tests.

And a Hartford principal resigned last week amid questions about scores from her school’s tests.

There’s something seriously wrong here.

Not all administrators and educators are engaging in unethical behavior around test scores, but it’s pretty disturbing to see this pattern developing. And perhaps the most disturbing part is that as test scores get doctored, kids are falling through the cracks and making the name “No Child Left Behind” sound (even more) like a sick joke.

The problem is a system that ties funding (and sometimes educator compensation) to standardized test score results. When there are penalties for low scores and rewards for high ones, educators and administrators are incentivized to do whatever it takes just to raise those numbers--not necessarily to improve teachers’ ability to serve their students’ needs, or students’ capacity for higher-order thinking and interaction with academic material.

Some standards are necessary of course, but the profound problems with our current standardized test system, and particularly its relationship to educational funding (and the lack thereof), are becoming more and more apparent. What works for one student won’t necessarily work for another in the same class, let alone for another student in a completely different context across the country, and we can’t keep asking schools to do more with less. How can we change things to shift the focus back to students and away from bubbles and multiple choice?

Stretch Your Brain

Research on neuroplasticity shows that when we use our brains, we actually create new connections and neural pathways! So solving problems is actually kind of like mental aerobics, building up your brain. There are lots of fun ways to work out your brain, of course, and once in a while it’s good to really do some stretching!

Try out these brain teasers (via BrainDen.com) to extend your brainpower.

Pouring water

If you had only a 5-liter bowl, a 3-liter bowl, and unlimited water, how would you measure exactly 4 liters of water?

Honestants and Swindlecants

There are two kinds of people on a mysterious island: The Honestants, who always speak the truth, and the Swindlecants, who always lie.

Three fellows (A, B and C) are having a quarrel at the market. A foreigner goes by and asks the A fellow: "Are you an Honestant or a Swindlecant?" The answer is incomprehensible so the foreigner asks B: "What did A say?" B answers: "A said that he is a Swindlecant." And to that says the fellow C: "Do not believe B, he is lying!"

Who are B and C?

Think you know the answers? Share them with us! Extra props for the most creative answers.

“It’s not about the brand, it’s about the fit.”

In his book Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges – And Find Themselves (Penguin Books), Dave Marcus shares what he has learned from observing the guidance counselor Gwyeth Smith (affectionately known as Smitty), of Long Island High School.

“It’s not about the brand, it’s about the fit,” Smitty would tell parents.

Marcus writes about the pressure put on adolescents to succeed, and how Smitty’s approach to the college search helped parents find ways to help their kids slow down, take advantage of the present, and in effect, redefine the word “success” in a more personally relevant way.

Some of his advice is shared in an interview with TeenLife blog, and Acceptance is often cited by the NY Times college admissions blog The Choice. Reader response to “Slow Down and Savor Middle and High School” on The Choice included this comment from Debra Makar:

“Savor middle and high school? I was a gifted student (Mensa member) and counted the minutes until I could get out of those horrible places. My experiences were, for the most part, either excruciatingly boring or cruel. I wanted out and the sooner the better. If I hadn’t started college classes during my junior year, I would have been suicidal. High school is not the same for everybody, sometimes it’s your social world and sometimes it’s your nightmare. The worse thing someone said to me was to enjoy it all since it was the best years of my life. I now chalk it up as the worst years of my life.”

Unfortunately, Debra is far from alone in this experience. School can be unhappy and even excruciating for a great number of young people, especially during middle and high school, even for those who are fulfilling certain requirements for "success." This brings us once again to the importance of finding your passion and a place where you feel you really fit. Having adults—parents, tutors, mentors—who know you well and can help you find joy in learning and doing, and a welcoming place in the world, is especially crucial during this time. In the end, this is what helps students reach their true potential and paves the way for their greater achievements.

Relationships that help nurture your curiosities and talents are the best form of support and can affect the rest of your life for the better. Have a comment or experience to share? Please join the conversation and post your thoughts below!

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Andrew Lee! He won Tutorpedia’s Viral Video Competition with over 300 views, and got himself an iPod Touch!

Andrew has always wanted to learn 3D animation, because he wants to create cool special effects and he thinks it’s awesome to make videos that people watch and like.

He’d like to make YouTube videos with millions of views, and he is already well on his way! Check out his fabulous submission below, and you can find more of his fun creations on his YouTube Channel, moviesAKLee

Great Job Andrew, and thanks for telling us what you’ve ever wanted to learn!


What have YOU ever wanted to learn? We can help you! Check out Tutorpedia’s website for more info on how a Class of One can help you reach your goals.

Gov. Brown Signs California DREAM Act

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that will expand opportunities for undocumented college students to seek financial aid from private institutions. The measure is a step towards more rights for undocumented students who immigrated to the US as children and are saddled with the lifetime legal consequences of a decision they did not make for themselves.

The California law is a modified version of a decades-old federal bill known as the DREAM Act, or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth who immigrated before the age of 16, graduated from US high schools, and are studying at US universities or serving in the military.

Advocates argue that among other long-term benefits of the bill, passing the DREAM Act would encourage more undocumented students to stay in school—current high school dropout rates are higher for immigrant students, partly because of the barriers students know lie between them and higher education. However, an inspiring number of undocumented students do graduate from high school and go on to study at top universities, excelling despite the special financial and legal difficulties they face.

Hearing the stories of DREAM Act students and how hard they have worked to achieve their education reminds us that opportunities for academic success should never be taken for granted.

What Have you Ever Wanted to Learn?

Hey students, Tutorpedia's Viral Video Contest has extended its deadline to August 1, 2011-- this means you still have until the end of the month to submit a short video that could win you a free iPod Touch! Cool, no?

It's fun and easy! Here's how to enter: create a 30-60 sec. video answering the question, "What have you ever wanted to learn?" and submit said video to YouTube with "Tutorpedia" and "www.tutorpedia.com" in the description. Also remember to e-mail the video to our Director, Seth Linden, at seth@tutorpedia.com with VIRAL VIDEO in the subject line.

The winner of this creative contest will receive a - that's right! - free iPod Touch. The second-place winner will receive two hours of 1-1 tutoring from Tutorpedia, to be used in any area of focus. We will pick the winner by recording the number of YouTube views each submitted video receives.

Teachers use Khan's online Academy to "flip" the classroom

This article from Wired magazine describes how some teachers have been using the internet as a device to “flip” the classroom: students receive instructional content in lecture form outside of school through online videos, leaving teachers free to devote individual attention to students during school hours.

Salman Khan developed Khan Academy when he started creating home videos explaining math problems and posting them to YouTube. He realized that his videos could be used by educators to supplement their lessons, and by students anywhere who wanted to “learn almost anything--for free.” So he developed a website including games and quizzes, a dashboard for teachers to track their students’ progress, and thousands of instructional videos. He’s received grants to continue his work, including from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and provides all of the services free of cost to users.

Though the Khan Academy’s approach certainly has its critics, the creator views it as a way to democratize learning and provide accessible one-on-one explanations that students can view as many times as they want, progressing at their own pace and in the privacy of their own homes.

Some have pointed out the limitations of his videos-- they are still basically in lecture format, with no opportunity for students to ask questions (it’s a video after all!), and the digital divide prevents some students from taking advantage of the service. Also, the mastery-based learning style of the drills lends itself well to math and science, but what about other subjects like English and history that may have more than one answer for any given question?

In 1984 Benjamin Bloom showed the huge difference that individual attention makes for students, finding a leap of two standard deviations in the progress of students who received 1-1 instruction. Despite some shortcomings, Khan Academy has great potential to make individualized instruction available to more students.

In terms of holistic learning, however, we still think nothing beats a real live tutor! Especially when it comes to adjusting to student learning styles, answering questions, developing study skills, and the interpersonal and mentoring aspect of tutoring, a student’s real relationship with a tutor makes greater success possible.

If you want to make free/affordable tutoring available to more students who need it, why not donate to the Tutorpedia Foundation? $35 will provide a full hour of free 1-1 academic help and mentoring from excellent tutors for students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.

(photo by John Watson)

Testing 1, 2, 3, 4-year-olds

Our education system is broken.

This statement seems to be more or less accepted as fact by most educators, policy makers, and community leaders throughout the country, but when it comes to how to fix it, or even how to diagnose the problem, we have some differences of opinion (to put it politely).

For the last several years, the accepted wisdom of educational policy seems to have been that we can test, test, test our way to educational success, to the point that the Department of Education is gearing up to start testing four-year-olds in high-stakes testing. Really?

Yes, four-year-olds!

Can we please take a step back and ask, what is the purpose of the unprecedented and frankly insane extent of standardized testing we have gotten ourselves into?
Most proponents of the testing trend cite accountability as its great advantage. But is simply putting students and teachers through hours of standardized tests really going to help schools take responsibility for the failures of the system? And who exactly does hold that responsibility? Who are we trying to hold accountable? Sometimes it seems like we are punishing struggling schools and students simply because they exist in a larger dysfunctional system over which they may have no control.

The second main thrust of testing, of course, is to create standards. And the question of standards is a very complex one, especially in a country with such a richly varied student body as ours. However, we can certainly agree that we would like to hold all students to high, but achievable standards, and not allow some students to slip through the cracks. Our goal is not to subject some students to that American-dream-crushing injustice of a sub-standard education.
But does the current system of testing really help us move toward that goal?

Maybe there are multiple paths to a good education. Maybe not everyone is a square peg that will fit properly in the holes provided. Maybe we have different life situations, skills, and needs, but we all have the capacity to reach our own higher standards. Maybe what we need is a more personalized approach... Class of One, anyone?

New Take on 1-1 Tutoring is Win-Win for Calavera Hills Students

An innovative program at Calavera Hills Middle School in Carlsbad, CA underlines the importance of educational relationships and community-building in a remarkable way. As New America Media reports, the school’s Coyote Crossroads program, now in its third year, pairs academically struggling students with their autistic peers as tutors and mentors.

Not only do the autistic students benefit from the support and friendship of their peer tutors, but the tutors also find meaning in their school experience, showing a marked improvement in their grades and motivation in their own classes. The school has also shown a significant improvement in its truancy numbers—down from 55.76% in 2007-2008 to 37.54% in 2009-2010.

One peer mentor reports that her relationships with her autistic classmates give her a reason to get out of bed when that alarm rings in the morning, and she also finds inspiration in her autistic friends. If they can handle teasing and bullying from other students, then she can too. From struggling to make it to school, she now aspires to become a teacher like Ms. Lupu, one of the program’s mentors.

Three cheers for Calavera Hills Middle School for harnessing the power of students to improve their own school community! Fresh ideas like this can help us revitalize our education system and change students’ lives in the process.

Coyote Crossroads from New America Media on Vimeo.