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Closing the Gap

Closing the Gap. through Service Learning Partnerships. Duke University Program in Education. Melanie Rumsey Jessica Vick David Malone. The Problems. Many capable children do not succeed on EOG tests. Teachers seldom have the time and resources to effectively work with tutors.

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Closing the Gap

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  1. Closing the Gap through Service Learning Partnerships

  2. Duke UniversityProgram in Education Melanie Rumsey Jessica Vick David Malone

  3. The Problems • Many capable children do not succeed on EOG tests. • Teachers seldom have the time and resources to effectively work with tutors. • Training of college student tutors is typically insufficient • College students do not connect theory (class concepts) to practice (tutoring sessions).

  4. Partners for Success overview • PFS was created in 1998 • collaboration between Duke University and Durham schools to provide an organized tutoring program that would best meet the needs of DPS students • Needs-assessment by principals and teachers determined focus of the tutoring program • tutors would best help by working with low-achieving students in the areas of EOG tests and state mandated achievement goals

  5. Goals of the Program • Work with low-achieving 4th & 5th graders to raise EOG scores in reading and math, thereby addressing the gap in student achievement. • Bridge the gap between college and community. • Transform children’s attitudes about learning, school, and life. • Provide a transformative service learning experience for college students. • Create a reproducible research-based model.

  6. Program Maintenance • Service Learning Coordinator • Train tutors • Visit tutoring sites to observe tutoring sessions and provide constructive feedback to tutors • Site-Based Service Learning Assistants • Respond to reflection journal • Professors • Connect service learning with tutoring experience • Provide ongoing training to tutors

  7. The Service Learning Experience • Undergraduates enrolled in specific education courses tutor low-performing 4th and 5th grade students. • College students tutor 2 times a week for 1 hour for a total of 18 sessions • Undergraduates participate in ongoing reflection, training and discussion. • Undergraduates connect academic course work to practical experience.

  8. PFS Participants1998-2002 4 Durham elementary schools 40 DPS teachers 443 Duke students 267 elementary students

  9. Total Number of Students Tutoredby race

  10. Total Number of Students Tutoredby gender

  11. Teaching Tutors to Teach Tutees As a tutor you need to: Focus on Achievement Focus on the Individual Focus on the Environment Focus on Effort

  12. Focus on Achievement • Help your child link new knowledge to prior knowledge. • Model thinking strategies and help your child learn how to learn. Show, don’t tell. • Engage in collaborative discourse; ask your child to put thoughts in his/her own words.

  13. Focus on the Individual • Attend to emotional/affective factors that act as cognitive filters and impact learning. • Show care, understanding, sympathy, and interest in tutee. • Be willing to dedicate resources (be on time, come to all sessions, provide emotional support, be energetic).

  14. Focus on the Environment • Consider the task difficulty (tutee's ability should match the challenge presented). • Set goals that are attainable. • Establish high expectations. • Allow tutee to take risks (show that mistakes are part of the learning process).

  15. Focus on Effort • Attribute successes to increased effort • Attribute failures to lack of effort as opposed to lack of ability.

  16. EOG Test Results2000-2001 school year • 89% of students receiving math tutoring passed Math EOG; prior to tutoring, 56% of same students passed Math EOG • 99% either maintained or increased EOG achievement level in Math • 48% of students receiving reading tutoring passed Reading EOG; prior to tutoring, 41% of same students passed Reading EOG • 89% either maintained or increased EOG achievement level in Reading

  17. Qualitative Results • The most common response from children: they gained more confidence • Tutors listed gains from the tutoring experience other than academic skills • social skills • personal growth • self-esteem • knowledge of how to deal with social issues • an understanding that learning can relate to life

  18. What makes PFS distinctive? • Tailor-made collection of prepared lessons tied to SCOS • Ongoing training • EOG and SCOS training • Training that addresses issues of achievement and of self • Reflection from individual and group • On-site weekly feedback • Strong association between course content and tutoring experience • Emphasis on individualization of instruction

  19. Conclusions • Tutees grow in important ways from tutoring experiences that aren’t necessarily measured by test results • Tutors become more aware of their communities and education-related issues from school-based service learning experiences • We can close the achievement gap by closing the gaps between: • colleges and communities • theory and practice • thought and action

  20. Questions for Discussion

  21. Question: How do you feel about having a tutor? • I really think she is the funest tutor I have had. She is very nice. She is like a sister to me. • I love it because my tutor always helps me out when I have trouble and I always learn something I didn’t know before. • I learn something and when I get mixed-up she helps me. • I like having a tutor because the things I do with my tutor I don’t get to do with my teacher.

  22. Question: How do you relate to at-risk 4th and 5th graders? • I relate to them in the same manner that I relate to other individuals, as individuals. I think of him more as Lateef than as an at-risk 5th grader. • I find myself somewhat cut off from “at-risk” students. I try and try but in the end, making a true impact seems tough. I feel that she sees me as being this different “entity” altogether • The “at-risk” part is especially difficult to relate to. That is one of the most challenging things about tutoring. When a child’s mom is on drugs or father has already passed on it is difficult to connect and help the child with that. Maybe the most difficult part is to convince your child you understand and establish trust.

  23. Question: What have you learned from your tutee? • I have learned the importance of believing in a child and honestly feeling that everyone has something to offer. • I have learned that it is not the children’s fault for not learning, it is the schools. My tutee is a very intelligent girl and has just not had the proper attention. • I have begun to realize that a child can really thrive on a little bit of extra attention and support. He has shown me that motivating children to learn is not an easy task, but with persistence and dedication to the challenge, there is always a way to motivate a child.

  24. Question: How would you improve minority and at-risk achievement in public schools? • Perhaps I would create more PFS programs that use students who are devoted and determined to help any child. • I think personal attention and positive role models are very important. Moreover, we must work closely with families/parents to coordinate and combine our education effort. • More bilingual teachers are needed, particularly those who also speak Spanish.

  25. Question: Have your feelings about school changed since you started working with your tutor? Why? • Yes because she helped me study for tests. At first I didn’t like school but since my tutor has come I like school. • Yes because I start to get better grades and I always am one step ahead of my teacher. • Yes because if I need to know something my tutor is right there but the teacher is not always because it’s too many of us and she just can’t come to me always. • School is fun now and I like coming to school.

  26. Question: How are you and your tutor alike? How are you different? • We like the color blue. She writes in cursiv and I do not I have one brother and one sister an she does not. But I really like my tutor. • We have a family. We got shoes. She is older than me. • Me and my tutor are both black and we both go to school. We are different because she has more hair and she is tall. • My family might be from a different country but they can speak English, that why they came to work and live in America, my tutor can speak only one language, my family could speak two.

  27. Question: How have your views about education changed since tutoring began? • I do not think I really understood the state of education today before I started tutoring. So many children slip through the cracks… • I now see the lack of personal connection and support in the public education system. I wish education focused more on understanding than on brow-beating facts into kids. • Education is a difficult field because every student learns differently and comes into the classroom with different experiences and attitudes. As an educator you may not understand the student but you must work to overcome that and find methods that work for each child.

  28. PFS is made possible through • Office of Community Affairs • David Stein and Sam Miglarese • Durham Public Schools • Joe Haenn • Principals and teachers at • E.K. Powe • Forest View • George Watts • Lakewood

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