A New Vision of Academic Support Tutorial Program By Danny Byrnes

What is it A mainstream academic support program. An alternative to the traditional special education style learning. Regular education teachers can meet with students that have learning problems Tutorial is helpful for the learning disabled students in getting away from the special education classrooms.

Why it was created Educators believed that too many students were being diagnosed with learning disabilities. Creation of the tutorial was an alternative to special education learning. The previous special education system was costly. Parents had concerns for the children about not getting enough help in the content subjects from the special education classroom. Students are in need of content based support.

Goals of program Originated in 2002 from a visit to Oxford by Robert Weintraub(Headmaster of Brookline High school) He liked the content based tutorial teaching style and felt it had potential in helping students who struggle academically. Wanted to have a mainstream approach in having students succeed academically Less time in special education rooms, less paperwork, increase in morale, and save the district money.

How it works Offers teams of two academic teachers: pairing a humanities teacher with a math or sciences teacher. Each team is assigned 10 students for the school year. Matching student needs with teacher strengths. Meet once a day for 50 mins. Teachers help with content in specific areas, setting goals, establish benchmarks, and communicate with other teachers and parents.

How it works More available teachers if necessary. Ex: A student needs help to prepare for a test in world language. The student can find a teacher in another tutorial team that teaches world language. Same goes for math, science, etc. Subject specific support.

How to pay for it How to spend $150,000 through the budget? Brookline high school has a 21 st century fund and includes help from alumni, parents, educators and philanthropists that provide funds. Venture capital fund that supports solving problems in public education.

Evaluation Harvard graduate school of education focused on 80 students. 40 from the tutorial and 40 from the special education learning centers. Evaluators looked at academic performance from PSAT, SAT, state assessments and grades Also took data from observations, teacher interviews, focus groups, parent surveys, IEP’s and 504 plans. Results showed that students from the tutorial program had improved grade scores, test scores, self confidence, and organization skills more than the students in the special education learning center.

Results 40 students in the tutorial in 2002 compared to the 200 in Special education learning center numbers have dropped from 260 students to 160. From , budget went from 110 million to 116 million- 20% to 25 %. Results show that students with disabilities in integrated and inclusive classrooms have academic improvement in tests, goals, grades, behavior, and motivation to learn.

Questions From what university did the tutorial program originate from?

Answer Oxford University in 2002

Question 2 Name one of the ways teachers help the students in the tutorial setting?

Answer 2 Setting goals Establishing benchmarks Content in subject areas. Communication with parents and teachers.

Question 3 How does the school fund the tutorial program?

Answer 3 21 st century venture capital fund involving alumni, parents educators, and philanthropists.

Julie Joyal Mowschenson,, and Robert J. Weintraub. "Beyond Special Education- A New Vision of Academic Support." (2009): Web. 29 Sep 2009.