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Thanks to Free Tutoring, Kids in Needy Neighborhoods Have Seen Their Skills Improve

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

By Susie Gran SGRAN@ABQTRIB.COM / 823-3682

Fifth-grade teacher Isela Imai and tutor Diana Parra de Gutierrez have groomed a poster child for No Child Left Behind.

They weren't looking to do so when Lucero Aguilar, 10, came into their lives for tutoring.

She was only 7 then and beginning to learn English at summer school in Albuquerque's South Valley.

Fast forward a couple of years. Lucero is fluent in English and Spanish; she's reading at grade level; she's even better at math.

"There's been a lot of growth. We've got a model example right here of a happy student, a confident student and one who is well supported," said Imai, who met Lucero three summers ago in an English-asa-second language class.

Imai was a tutor for Lucero's ESL class and is now the girl's fifth-grade teacher at Eugene Field Elementary.

Continued support for Lucero comes from one-on-one tutoring in her South Broadway home provided with federal No Child Left Behind Law funding to schools in poverty neighborhoods.

Lucero was one of 1,300 children in the Albuquerque Public Schools last year to receive the tutoring compliments of the federal government. She is among an estimated 1,700 to be tutored this year.

Albuquerque has more than 10,000 children who qualify for free tutoring, but it's up to parents to apply. Schools provide information to parents, but most don't respond, officials say.

So far this school year, only 500 students have applied, officials said. More are expected to apply after parent-teacher conferences later this fall.

And educators expect the demand to grow, as more families and schools reap the benefits of tutoring.

In three South Valley schools last school year, almost 400 children were tutored under the federal program, and their schools' test scores went up enough to take the schools off the improvement list.

Ironically, that means the students at Duranes, Los Padillas and Armijo Elementary Schools are no longer eligible for the free tutoring. These schools were the only ones in Albuquerque to make annual yearly progress after two years of failing to do so.

Duranes Elementary instructional coach Josie Lovato is disappointed the tutoring had to end, yet pleased it had such a dramatic effect.

"We're feeling that our kids are getting cheated out of it," she said. "All of our kids can use tutoring."

At Duranes, 109 students received the free tutoring. At Los Padillas, 79; at Armijo, 175.

Armijo's high participation was because of a concerted effort to enroll students, said Kathleen Yarbrough, the district administrator who oversees tutoring.

"Armijo called every family on their alert list," she said, referring to students who were performing below the proficiency level in reading and math.

The tutoring companies involved at the three improved schools were Club Z, Education Station (a Sylvan service), Youth Development Inc., Advantage and Rio Grande Educational Collaborative.

Tutoring offered under the federal law is now almost a $4 million business in New Mexico with 27 contractors providing services statewide.

But the companies have to prove their effectiveness to keep their contracts with the state. They are required to test students when they begin and end tutoring, and then report their scores as part of a state evaluation.

Sam Ornelas, the state's Title I director, said a statewide evaluation of the 2004-05 tutoring will be completed within a month.

Based on data the tutoring companies have compiled and surveys of parents and teachers, the evaluation will be used to weed out ineffective tutoring companies.

Under the federal law, each state must evaluate its tutoring contractors. Those that are not effective for two consecutive years won't be hired again.

"We're required to remove them" from the approved list, Ornelas said. Club Z, a national company with a New Mexico franchise, was the only tutoring service offered in students' homes.

Club Z was involved with families at Armijo, Los Padillas and Duranes and also provided Lucero's tutor.

Lucero, her tutor and her teacher agree that tutoring worked for her.

"I got all A's and B's," Lucero beamed. "My tutor helped me. I didn't know none of my multiplication, none. She gave me a test every day."

A blossoming fifth-grader who wants to be a teacher or a doctor, Lucero will be tutored for an hour or more at least three times per week, either at her dining room table or the library a half-block from home.

Lucero's family, including a baby brother, two grandparents, two sisters and two parents, often gathers around for tutoring and enjoys it, too, tutor Parra de Gutierrez said.

"This is about the whole family getting involved."

This school year, the focus will be reading for Lucero.

"That's how I got to go all around the world without leaving my kitchen," Lucero's tutor says, smiling, as they settle into their first session this month.

"We will work on vocabulary and reading comprehension. I'm going to teach you to learn what's important in what you read.

"You'll have a vocabulary list on cards. It will be your deck of cards, and you are going to have so much word power," she said.

"Reading's going to be easier for you."

TRACKING TUTORS

Officials say at least 1,700 impoverished Albuquerque children who need a boost in school will be tutored this year, a free benefit of the No Child Left Behind legislation. 27 contractors are approved by the state to provide tutors; 13 are national companies; the rest are New Mexico-based. $1,374 is the amount allowed for a single Albuquerque student's tutoring. Tutoring companies are paid from $25 to $41 per hour. The Albuquerque Public Schools spent $1.5 million on tutoring in the 2004-05 school year. Tutoring started in Albuquerque for 200 children in 2002; in the 2004-05 school year, 1,300 children were tutored. Per state guidelines, 75 percent of the tutoring is to be completed by Feb. 27 to prepare students for the statewide testing in March. More than 10,000 Albuquerque children are eligible for tutoring; children with the lowest test scores and the highest poverty rating are served first. Parents must apply for the tutoring after notification of eligibility. Statewide, 3,830 children were tutored in 2004-05 at an estimated cost of $3.8 million.

Sources: Albuquerque Public Schools Title I office; Title I Director Sam Ornelas, state Public Education Department

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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