Free Tutoring With NCLB

Posted by Barbara Pytel Aug 17, 2007

Tutoring Mandate

Although No Child Left Behind mandates that tutoring be made available to all students in failing schools, very few schools are following the order. Many schools are not even notifying parents of this right. Some schools that offer the tutoring do so in such a vague manner that parents do not even understand that it is being made available. A survey taken in failing schools shows that the majority of parents were not aware of tutoring for their children. [Nancy Zuckerbrod, The News & Observer, newsobserver.com, June 27, 2007] Another survey shows that NCLB does not have overwhelming support among parents, teachers and administrators.

Which Schools?

A study of nine urban schools investigated just how effective the tutoring is with poor children. The schools in the study were:

• Washington, DC
• Baltimore, MD
• Denver, CO
• Palm Beach, FL
• Chicago, IL
• Long Beach, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Diego, CA
• Philadelphia, PA

Rand Corporation Study

The study, released on June 27, 2007, used information from five of the nine schools but did not state which five schools. A group of independent researchers working for the Department of Education, the Rand Corporation, found that students receiving the free tutoring did improve in math and reading. What about the other four districts?

• Two districts showed no progress
• Two districts did not have enough students getting tutoring to be significant

It would be very interesting to study the various school tutoring programs and learn why some schools had better results than others.

Parents Uninformed of Rights

The 2002 NCLB Act mandates free tutoring after a school has not made progress three years in a row. Over 2,000 schools fall into this category nationally. The Act also requires that parents be given the option of transfering to another public school. Few choose to do this for many reasons. Distance could be a factor, friends, and perhaps parents are not clearly informed.

Many schools will be "restructured" in the next one to two years. We will be watching closely for the results of the restructuring and which penalties are enforced.

More: Nebraska Thumbs Nose at NCLB, NCLB: It's all about the test

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.