CONSUMERS : Tutors Offer Help for Slipping Students, Balm for the Parents

Each day after his sixth-grade teaching job, Joe Reed returns home at 2:30 p.m., eats an early dinner and rushes to the office behind his house.

At 3:30, students begin arriving at hourly intervals with problems in math, science or English and Reed begins work as an after-school tutor.

Seated behind a desk, he works 50 minutes with each student, helping them with their subject matter. But he also secures agreements that if they fail to organize their studies or hand in assignments, they will accept penalties ranging from no television for a day to being grounded for a weekend. And he begins regular contact with their teachers to monitor their progress.

Reed tutors 16-20 students a week, at $30 per session, and often works until 8:30 p.m. It is a long day, but Reed says he feels unburdened. “Some people think this is a heavy schedule,” he said. “I consider it a blessing. For instance, I had a student last year who went from D’s and F’s to A’s and B’s and received a special commendation from his school. And when that kid came in and showed that to me, it was the greatest joy in the world. I get the kind of joy that most people never get.”

As this school year’s midterm exams begin, Reed is among thousands of tutors available to area students and parents, who may call schools, boards of education, private learning centers or colleges or universities for such help.

Many schools offer free, on-campus tutoring. The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, provides academic help on most campuses, and the Pasadena Unified School District offers free aid for an hour after school at all campuses and two satellite locations, officials said.

Parents may also hire individual help from experts such as Reed through lists kept by schools or boards of education. A San Fernando Valley office of Los Angeles Unified--(818) 997-2304--keeps a list of hundreds of tutors. Other districts including Burbank--(818) 846-7121--and Santa Monica/Malibu--(213) 450-8338--make names available.

The various academic departments at colleges and universities often provide names of undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in tutoring. Programs such as USC’s Upward Bound may bring high school students onto the university campus for Saturday-morning tutoring.

Can Be Costly

Educators who work with tutors warn parents to hire carefully. Most school districts accept applications but lack resources to check tutors’ backgrounds or abilities. In addition, tutoring can be costly. Although some college students may charge $5 an hour, experienced tutors ask $20-$25, said Charles Espalin, director of counseling and guidance services for L.A. Unified. And in affluent areas such as Beverly Hills, some command $30 to $50.

“The parent has an obligation to have a good, meaty discussion with the prospective tutor,” Espalin said. “Have they worked with young people? Have they had experience with this age group? What expertise does this person have? Are they a former teacher? If they tutor math, were they math majors in college? Do they work with math on their job?”

Similar care should be used in selecting a private, profit-oriented learning center. “Some of them make interesting promises,” Espalin said. “If someone is saying that in one year we are going to move your student three or four grade levels, as an educator I doubt if that is possible.

“I would want to take a look at their materials and their methods and the training of the people they hire. I would see if they have any testimonials. If I were going to sign a one-year contract, I would want to do a fair amount of exploration.”

Parents should also question teachers before they decide tutors are necessary.

Alternative Methods

“If people call here, we say please call the school,” Espalin said. “Maybe the teacher will have an idea about alternative methods, such as reinforcement at home. Perhaps all Johnny needs is to read 30 minutes each evening or someone to check his multiplication problems. . . .

“At times you have overzealous parents who feel that a B in math is not enough. In this case tutoring may not translate into more learning or a higher grade. It may translate into frustration or fatigue.

“That is why we recommend talking to the teacher,” Espalin added. “If there appears to be a need for a tutor, the school will help the parent make connections with a free program at the school or in the community.”

For those who get the help they need, tutoring can be rewarding.

Johnny Vigil, 13, an eighth grader at Washington Middle School in Pasadena, says on-campus tutoring after school helped raised his math and English grades from C to B-plus.

Chris Lloyd, 15, a Beverly Hills High School sophomore, said that he was earning a low C in algebra last year when he hired a private tutor. On his final, he received a B-plus.

Lloyd worked with Brad Niems, a 1987 UCLA graduate in mathematics who has tutored for nine years. Niems, 25, teaches in a private school and tutors about 15 hours a week, charging $30 to $50 per hour.

‘Understands Concepts’

“He helps you a lot,” said Lloyd. “He understands concepts that they don’t explain in class. He went to Beverly Hills High. He had some of the same teachers. If you tell him something, he will know that it could be true. . . . Other tutors might not be able to adapt.”

Brett Charles, a ninth-grader at John Muir Junior High in Burbank, was earning D’s and F’s when his parents sent him to Reed last year.

Reed persuaded Charles to keep a list of assignments and to maintain folders with finished work on one side and unfinished on the other. He also worked with Charles’ parents so they could help the youngster follow through.

Within weeks the brown-haired, 14-year-old was earning A’s and B’s. He won five school commendations including a student-of-the-month award. This year he is maintaining his grades while taking English, pre-algebra, world cultures, singing in the school choir and playing on the Burbank High School freshman football team.

“I think my attitude was not right and I wasn’t as organized as I should be,” said Charles. “He made me focus a lot more.”

“He didn’t feel school was that important. He just fooled around,” said Becky Charles, Brett’s mother. “Joe turned that around in a hurry. He really communicates with Brett.”