The growing energy behind STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curricula in US schools is influencing the after-school and tutoring communities to provide new learning options.
High school students benefit significantly from college admissions counseling information and guidance – yet most don’t get much of it. According to the latest State of College Admission 2011 from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “For many students, particularly those in public schools, college counseling is limited at best. Counselors are few in number, often have large student caseloads and are limited in the amount of time they are able to dedicate to college counseling.”
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) recently released its annual State of College Admission Report 2011. … A wide range of interesting analysis has likewise appeared around the blogosphere in the wake of the report.
Already thirty-seven states plus the District of Columbia have said that they intend to apply for an SES waiver between now and mid-February 2012. If granted, the waivers would free districts in these states from setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars each year for after-school tutoring targeting the lowest-performing students. This sweeping change would effectively end SES, which has already been eliminated from the Senate’s version of the updated NCLB legislation.
Many tutoring centers offer some training for their tutors. But what about private tutors and coaches? New online training methods have evolved that enable private tutors to learn new skills anytime, anywhere they can access the Internet.
Enter the badge, “… a validated indicator of accomplishment, skill, quality or interest…” that can be earned in almost any learning environment. Badges can motivate and support ongoing learning, validate skills and education, help build reputation and confirm knowledge acquisition.
How well does their high school academic experience prepare students for college? Not very well, according to a new study by the College Board that surveyed students from the Class of 2010 “one year out.”
In the US, the Supplemental Education Services (SES) component of the No Child Left Behind Act provides free tutoring for low-income students in low-performing schools. But that program may not be funded much longer. And what about all the children, as well as adults, who don’t qualify? Here in the US, there is a growing response to the need for publically available free tutoring for both kids and adults – and many of these new services are delivered online.
Congress is debating whether to keep various components of No Child Left Behind — including Supplemental Education Services (SES), which provides federally funded free tutoring. How well is this program performing? And is it likely to survive the budget cuts?
As US school districts struggle with shrinking budgets, the option to snip a year or even two from students’ high school education has become increasingly appealing. These programs, modeled on systems that have been successful in Singapore, France, Finland and other high-performing countries, hopes to shift the emphasis from seat time and credits to verifiable subject mastery. What might the impact of these programs be on tutoring?
