TRIO Tutor Programs and Training ATP Training Module

This module will be presented in three sections: TRIO Grants Information Setting up/Maintaining a TRIO Tutor Program Key Components of training TRIO tutors.

What are TRIO Grants? TRIO Grants are federally funded grants to address the needs of at-risk students from 7 th grade through graduate school.

TRIO Grants Began with three grants on three levels: o Educational Talent Search (Junior High Students) o Upward Bound (High School Students) o Student Support Services (College Students)

Now there are more grant programs than the original three, but the criteria is the same for all: Students qualify for services in one of three ways: – They are in a low-income family. – They are the first one in their family to attend college. – They have a documented disability.

TRIO Grant Awards TRIO Grants are awarded in four year cycles. Grant-writing trainings are also held regularly for the TRIO grants that are accepting proposals for awards.

TRIO Grant Awards Updated information on TRIO grant cycles and trainings can be found on the U.S. Department of Education website.

Setting Up and Maintaining a TRIO Tutor Program

Setting Up/Maintaining a TRIO Tutor Program requires: Setting policies about hiring/paying/evaluating tutors Determining how to recruit prospective tutors Setting the schedule/hours per week tutors can work Creating the “paper” contact trail Evaluating the tutoring session Certifying tutors

Recommended Hiring Policies: Tutors should have recommendations from at least two professors/one in their major field of study. Tutors should have A’s or B’s in the areas they will be tutoring. Tutors should have to complete at least 10 hours of training before being placed on the tutor schedule. Tutors should be limited to the number of hours they can work per week. Tutors should have to evaluate each tutoring session and each student should evaluate their experience with the tutor.

Determining how to recruit prospective tutors: Call or a flyer to department chairs in the areas tutors are needed. Ask them for recommendations of students. Be sure to include the tutor requirements. Try to recruit during the last half of the spring semester so most tutors are in place when fall semester begins. Post notices in upper classmen dorms in the spring semester.

Determining how to recruit prospective tutors: Ask tutors who are graduating to recruit their replacement. Call or faculty teaching the courses that you need tutors for to recommend tutors from past classes.

Generally tutors cannot work more than 20 hours per week. Most don’t want to work more.

It is your job as the tutor coordinator to make sure a tutor does not spend so much time helping others that his/her grades start to fall.

Pay Scale and Different Levels of Training  Determine from the grant resources how much you can afford to pay tutors if all were paid at the same rate regardless of training hours or experience. (Note: Federal guidelines require that tutors are paid at least minimum wage.)

Titles  Some programs have different titles and pay scales based on experience and training completed. o Possible titles—Level 1-Tutors Level 2-Associate Tutors Level 3-Master Tutors

Pay Scales o Possible pay scales: Level 1=minimum wage Level 2= minimum wage + $.50 to $1 more per hour Level 3= Level 2 + $1 more (these tutors would have some additional expectations in terms of leadership and training)

Creating the “paper” trail:  You need to document each contact a tutor has with a TRIO student whether in a group tutoring session or a one-on-one session.  This documentation may be electronic or paper.

What information needs to be documented:  The name of the student being tutored  The time the session starts and ends  What subject is being tutored  What topic/activity was discussed/ completed  When the next appointment time is  No shows

What counts as a “No Show”?  Tutors should wait 15 minutes for a tutee.  At the end of 15 minutes, the tutor should complete a “no-show” form.  Tutor should put the 15 minutes on the time sheet.  Tutor Coordinator should the student (tutee) to determine why the “no show” happened.  Three “no-shows” in a row means the student has to meet with the Tutor Coordinator before another appointment can be made.

How should the session be evaluated?  Tutor Coordinators approach evaluation of the tutoring session in many different ways.  It is important to do some sort of evaluation.  Most effective is when the tutor and the student evaluate the session.

Note: Tutor Coordinator can develop a Likert scale questionnaire for the student to complete. The tutor evaluation form may need to be a bit more detailed. You must determine what you want to know and develop the evaluation instruments to meet your criteria. *

Key Components of Tutor Training A list of approved training topics is listed on the ATP website under certification. All of these topics do not have to be included, but the training topics should be selected from this list.

Why should I certify my tutors?  Certifying the tutors will give your entire program more credibility.  Certifying the tutors will also help your program results.  Certifying the tutors will improve the quality of the service you provide.  Students coming for tutoring will have more confidence in knowing the tutors are certified.  For the tutors certification will look very good on a resume.

If you have any questions or wish further information, feel free to contact any ATP officer through the website.

How do I certify my tutors through ATP? Certification guidelines can be found on the ATP website: Plan to become a certified tutor trainer through ATP. Plan to have a tutor training session for your tutors. ATP members can answer any questions you have about setting up a training.