Tutoring students One on One
At LINK, our volunteer tutors (following the completion of training and background checks) help a broad cross-section of students in our schools each year. Our program was originally modeled after the Barksdale Reading Institute and America Reads programs, but has since evolved into an individualized program based on the needs of each student. We do our best to maintain as many adult volunteers as possible in each school system. Each volunteer typically tutors 2-3 children every week.
Teachers from the schools identify students who have definitive needs, and our volunteers focus in those areas each week on a one-to-one basis. The tutors concentrate on subjects where a student might be falling behind, and review with each student the various materials recommended by his/her teacher.
Students from all walks of life in both the city and county school systems are benefitting from LINK's Volunteer Tutoring Program. Analysis demonstrates that schools with tutoring/mentoring programs show a marked improvement in the state required MCT2 examination reading scores. Both our tutors and the teachers report significant progress in the reading levels of the students who participate.
Students are responding well to the extra individual attention shown to them by our trained volunteers. We have also discovered that our program works particularly well in advancing the needs of children whose primary language is not English. And as our community continues to grow in diversity, we are excited that our tutors are able to successfully assist these special students.