It’s back to school now for millions of students and vicariously
for their parents. And as they hit the books, virtually all have the same
goal: raise grades and test scores substantially to get into a good college
and have a chance in an increasingly competitive job market. But the bad
news is that many students are falling short of their academic goals.
“Low or failing grades produce shame, frustration, helplessness,
hopelessness and peer group rejection,” says Larrie Reynolds, Superintendent
of Mount Olive Township Public Schools. “This allows the student
to convince even themselves that their lacking success in school is actually
a personal lifestyle choice, rather than an inevitable fate.”
The good news is that through an
effective tutoring program, students can overcome the academic and resultant social difficulties.
There are many causes of poor academic performance, but it almost always
leads to negative consequences for the confidence of the student. “They
may be upset with parental pressure, have no strong drive, lack confidence,
have learning problems or face other apparent barriers. So to simply start
‘tutoring’ them so often backfires, turning out to be an exercise
in futility,” says Frank Milner, president of
Tutor Doctor, a global network of academic coaching companies.
“That’s why our academic coaches begin with what our process
refers to as a personal discovery. Our people find out what is in the
student’s heart and mind before we begin to deal with English, mathematics
or history. If we know that there is something working against the learning
process, we can address it quickly and effectively,” says Milner.
As an example, we look at a sophomore in High School and a competitive
swimmer who failed most of his classes during his freshman year. Family
stress reached a boiling point and his parents reached out to a tutor
for help. Sophomore year, the student went through the personal discovery
process and was seen by an academic coach for both English and Math. The
student proceeded to get A’s and B’s and his parents couldn’t
The personal discovery looks for five key issues that can be blocking the
student’s academic success:
- Working parents have little time to help students with academics.
- Students that “struggle in silence.” These students are too
embarrassed to reach out for help at school.
- Too many extra-mural activities impede the student’s ability to perform
- Gaps in educational fundamentals. These gaps need to be filled in while
working on current studies.
- Situations where moving is involved. Moving from state to state, elementary
to middle school, middle school to high school, public to private and
“We know that by conducting the personal discovery first and also
by filling in gaps in the student’s knowledge before trying to go
to the next level, “says James Zazeski of Tutor Doctor, ”
our system proves that it is highly effective in accelerating the trajectory
“Dakota has only been with her academic coach for two months and
already her test scores in grammar, science and history have gone from
D’s and F’s to high A’s,” says Tracy Healey, a
Tutor Doctor client. “Your careful selection in matching the right
tutor to the student was spot on. Dakota’s confidence level is through
the roof and she now feels that she is very capable of achieving great
success as a student. As a parent, I’m thrilled!”