Tutoring and Tutor Training Resources

Posted by on April 8, 2005

Direct links to some of the LEARNS products and services.

CNCS/LEARNS Web-Based Tutor Training
This interactive Web site was created to prepare national service members and volunteers to tutor elementary students in reading. Check it out at: http://www.nwrel.org/learns/web-based. We’ve also been conducting calls to help orient project directors to the site and share ideas about you can use it to support volunteer training. If you think folks are interested, we can schedule a call just for a group of Pennsylvania directors. We also announce these calls on the aclist. If your program directors are on the listserv, tell them to watch for announcements of upcoming calls.

New Video: Reading for Meaning: Good Practice in Volunteer Tutoring
The latest in the series of LEARNS Tutor Training Videos, this 22-minute video is designed to help train volunteers working with children who struggle to read fluently. The video introduces Emily, a second-grader, whose lack of fluency interferes with her reading comprehension, and includes a discussion guide with suggestions and tips for using the video to train tutors. We also have other tutor training videos available: http://www.nwrel.org/learns/trainingopps/videos/index.html.
Programs can contact us to receive free copies.

The Tutor Newsletter
The new issue, Homework Help: Strategies for Volunteers, will be out in a few weeks. I’ve put you on the mailing list. Programs can contact us to be placed on the mailing list, or they can download current and past issues at: http://www.nwrel.org/learns/tutor/index.html

Here’s something that’s a little bit old, but that gets at the issue of the scientifically-based tutoring curriculum. We actually wrote it to help grant applicants, but it may still be relevant in some ways to the program you mentioned as struggling with this issue:
http://www.nwrel.org/learns/resources/toolkit/Tutoring-Toolkit.pdf

If you or your program directors have questions or need resources, feel free to contact us. The second 800-number is our office in the Eastern time zone, so that may be the easiest for your folks. The first one rings in my office. Here’s the contact info: 800-361-7890 or 800-930-5664 or e-mail: learns@nwrel.org or learns@bnkst.edu. Let me know if there’s anything else we can provide!

LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of Education. We provide training and technical assistance to Corporation for National and Community Service, 21stCCLC, and Federal Work Study projects focused on tutoring, mentoring, literacy, and out-of-school time.