Why You Should Train Your Tutors
So it’s a month into the new year already! And I’m sure you are all still following your new year’s resolutions, right? Well, lucky for you, there is no better time to improve your own skills as a tutor. On the other hand, if you run a tutoring company you can offer your staff some tutoring too! Professional development can have a huge impact on your business. Research supports the value of training tutors.
By Bob Lasiewicz, Managing Director, Crossroads of Learning.
Research on Training Tutors
When you ask a tutor whether professional training has improved their effectiveness as a tutor, chances are they will reply in the affirmative. However, where is the supporting research?
The most impressive statistical data on client/student impact I found comes from the National Study of Developmental Education. This is a longitudinal study of 6,000 student transcripts from 160 institutions. For example, this study found that tutoring provided by trained vs. untrained tutors was more effective. Furthermore, increasing first-semester GPA, cumulative GPA, success in developmental courses, and overall retention.
Another valuable research project was a field study on tutor effectiveness conducted by Dr. Rick Sheets, Ph.D. He focused on 10 campuses in the Phoenix area, with 70 tutors participating. He discovered that training definitively led to more appropriate responses to presented tutoring situations. Interestingly, there was no significant influence based on a tutor’s age, grade point average or educational degrees.
A third investigation* by Geoffrey K. Bailey, PhD, demonstrates how trained tutors utilize techniques of greater variety and effectiveness when tutoring. That is to say, the strategies used by untrained tutors with equivalent subject knowledge are often limited and counterproductive. Furthermore, the level of confidence, retention and satisfaction of trained tutors is much higher as well.
Training Tutors
At Crossroads of Learning we have collected close to 600 surveys from graduates of our online training programs. They confirm that both peer and professional tutors report training benefits greater than they had anticipated.
Eighty-nine percent (89%) of the more experienced tutors who identified their previous knowledge of tutoring theory as “extensive” reported the university approved training as helpful. Of these, 11% were certified teachers and 44% had a master’s degree or higher.
I’ve heard some tutors and tutoring providers say that tutor training is a luxury reserved for new tutors. Going on to say that it is unnecessary for certified teachers or those with previous tutoring experience. As the above mentioned studies show, research suggests otherwise. Therefore, professional or certification training for tutors assures a higher quality outcome. To clarify, it’s in the same way that professional development is considered essential to other educational specialists.
Oases Online tutoring management software allows you to book, track and report on training tutors. Book a demonstration below to see Oases Online’s features and learn how you can improve results for your students.
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