To Tutor: In-house or not?

Interesting article in last Friday's Washington Post about how schools in Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere are finding that hiring outside tutors to work with their struggling students doessn't necessarily lead to better test scores. The headline is "Mandated Tutoring Not Helping Md., Va. Scores," and you can read the full article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203681.html

The issue in a nutshell: NCLB requires certain schools to provide tutors to struggling students. But after all the time and expense of hiring and bringing those outside firms up to speed, the results are often negligible.

That emerging story is certainly contributing to the success of our customized Academic Support Program ("ASP") materials. Because the ASPs can be tailored to individual district needs, they also make sense in an in-school tutoring context. Rather than paying outside resources that may or may not hit the target, districts can use the ASPs as a comprehensive program for teacher-tutors.

That's what we're especially good at: developing customized materials that zero in on a particular district's particular needs. And then creating the materials, printing them quickly on our in-house digital presses, and delivering them with customized professional development. Sometimes the materials are new from the ground up, sometimes they're more of a tweak on the established state standards, or what the district next door has already developed. But however we work with a district, we're able to offer a level of attention and detail they simply can't find from traditional publishers.

And that includes materials that work for tutors, too.