Outside Tutoring

There is a heated debate about “tutoring culture” going on over on UrbanBaby. In top NYC high schools, this outside tutoring has become a big issue. Many posters (or, maybe the same poster, posting frequently ;-)) feel that boarding school offers a respite from this need for constant outside/expensive tutoring. What do you all think? Are outside tutors commonplace in boarding school? I’m not talking about school-organized help: older students or teachers who are available to help out. I’m talking about parents hiring an independent tutor to come on a regular basis to help keep grades up.

Absolutely not necessary at CRH. Pretty sure this would be the same at other top BS. The level of rigor is certainly tough, but the teachers are expected to be available for study help several times a week.

Teachers in NYC schools are available for help as well, but I think that parents are the ones adding additional tutoring. And once a few kids start down that road, everyone else feels like they need to catch up! Anyway, there was a woman on UB who was convinced that this is just as much of a problem at boarding schools (which I doubted).

Our BS provided a tutor for DS, who was failing chemistry and not likely to recover with just “extra study help”. This is a woman affiliated with the school but not on faculty, who comes to the campus to meet with students identified by and arranged with the learning center. We did not initiate it - the LC did - but we are grateful for the intervention. She has helped him tremendously to pull his grade up and, more importantly, actually understand the material and keep up with the class.

I’ve never heard of any BS students using outside tutors. Using the school’s own resources – students, teachers willing to meet after class, study skills resource centers – yes, definitely. But bypassing all that and hiring an outside tutor? Well, I’m sure there are some nuts who do it, but it would certainly be considered way outside the norm. I know my kids would be mortified if such a thing was ever suggested to them.

Kids at boarding school use the school resources. I have children at both a TT Manhattan private as well as a New England boarding school and I can tell you that it’s completely opposite. It all comes down to housing and general cost of living. Teachers at Manhattan privates need to tutor kids outside of their school to make extra money to live in or around NYC. Sadly, I know first hand that Trinity families hire Dalton and HM teachers and vice versa. As a result these teachers are not around after school to help their own students. It’s a flawed model, pay $45,000 a year plus tutoring costs for teachers from the school across town. My DD at boarding school goes to see her teachers for help, she had one class where she needed ongoing help outside of class, she used a peer tutor who was $10 an hour. The tutoring culture in NYC can drive one crazy and create a teenager who may get better grades but is not very resourceful.

Thanks everyone, that’s what I thought.

I know folks at SPS who used outside tutors for their kids, although peer tutors and teachers were available. Not saying its widespread but it is done and I was surprised when it came to my attention. For the most part, it was the same set who’d be doing it in NYC and the CT suburbs. Same holds true for independent college counselors (despite a strong college counseling office) and SAT/ACT tutoring. Some folks have the big $ and will spend it to continue to provide their with what they perceive as advantages. I would be surprised if this was only an SPS thing. I am certain it takes place at other schools as well, it just doesn’t get discussed openly. In fact, I’d say its kept on the “down low”. It took awhile for me to be aware of it and only after getting to know some kids/families better and overhearing things.

My children didn’t run into it. I think it would be difficult to pull off. Visitors to campus have to sign in, students have to sign out (and state their destination,) the schedule at school is very busy. The schools provide the wifi network. If a student were using an outside tutor, the school would eventually get wind of it. Students have different levels of riding privileges–getting into the car of an adult not on the approved list could be a disciplinary issue. (I suppose a local boarder’s parent could provide transportation every weekend for his/her children.)

Using a private tutor rather than the schools’ teachers or peer tutoring could be an honesty issue. The teachers know the students’ work very well. If a student suddenly starts turning in markedly better work, that could lead to an allegation of cheating. If students are really struggling, sometimes they’re not invited back for the next year.

Private music teachers do provide lessons on campus. I suppose if a student wanted to learn a language the school didn’t provide, such as Japanese or Portuguese, the tutor might visit campus.

Tutoring for As without the school’s knowledge would be a very risky thing. As I wrote above, my kids didn’t have the impression their classmates were being tutored privately. Such practices would also undercut the child’s development of independent study skills and self control which are the whole point of sending a child to boarding school.

(I did have the impression that some people used independent college counselors. I don’t understand that, but it seemed to happen. Added to stress for the children whose parents hired the independent counselors. As for SAT/ACT tutoring, many schools offer on campus tutoring classes through private providers, for those who are interested.)

I agree with Periwinkle. I don’t see how the logistics of private tutors can work at boarding school. DD has a roommate, they are together in their room during study hall so Skype does not work. The campus security is very tight, outside visitors need to sign in. On every test, the students sign honor code. How and when do these students see outside tutors?

At SPS, there is a private tutoring service within walking distance to campus. Kids can also hire taxis. If the money is there for tutoring, the money is there for transportation. This is not taking place on campus but the school is not naive to it either. Free blocks, afternoons and evenings when not engaged in activities and definitely on Sundays. I know one student who went into Boston on Sunday mornings via private car service. It does happen. Again, not necessarily widespread but it goes on. Also know of students who did private study the summer before the class taken to give the student a headstart.

I don’t advocate private tutoring at all but I also don’t see it as a violation of honor codes. As long as the work being done is the students’ own work, getting extra practice and instruction on material covered would not be an honor code violation.

Again, I am only well versed in one school but do know of cases in both my kids’ forms where private tutoring was taking place. I have no doubts it happens elsewhere. Given the deep pockets of many families and their desire to have their kids do well both at BS and in college admissions, if their kid needs extra help, they are going to use their resources to get it. This isn’t saying it would work if a student is struggling across the board, but for a student who has a weakness in one subject, it can help.

Groton discourages the use of outside tutors. There is more than enough academic support within the school to provide what students need.

NMH provides a for-fee tutor sanctioned and arranged by the school (often retired NMH teachers in the area) for the few rare situations when a peer tutor, also available, or extra help from teachers is not enough support. My daughter used this service for 2 classes and it was very helpful. However, if a child needed regular outside help in multiple subjects I think most schools would come to the conclusion that the student was not a good fit for that school. Tutors are not, I don’t think, used to ensure As but to help students who are struggling with a particular subject.

Wealthy parents seem to feel a need to mop up their child’s every spill and keep their offspring from having to experience a bit of angst or stretch. Sad actually. Then they begrudge the acceptance of some other kid with slightly lower scores but who worked full time to support his/her family and could never afford a tutor of any kind. This mentality can start in preschool when they hire tutors so their kids nail the entry tests and it continues once their kid is in college and they arrange for internships for their kids and through their well connected friends. God forbid the child has to do a thing him/her self.

I don’t think you were talking to me specifically #lostaccount but for the record, my daughter has a learning difference in math and she has always had to work hard to keep up in that one area. She has certainly not lived a life free of angst, quite the contrary, nor would she begrudge another kid’s acceptance for lower scores - she is the kid who got accepted with lower scores!

K-12 school as a whole is not a competition where children practice survival games. It’s a nurturing environment where they are cared and learn to do things so eventually they will become independent adults. They experience plenty of angst and stretch even with the parents’ support. And they still have to do plenty of things him/herself with extra help they might need and/or receive.

Many kids have asynchronous development, or learning difference as @chemmchimney ‘s daughter. Some STEM kids are in upper college level for their favorite CS, Math or Phys subjects yet is lower than age average for other subjects. Mine is very high in arts and pretty good in humanity but is below average for math compare to kids in some top bs she applied to. While I am not wealthy, I have time and knowledge to give her pretty good tutoring myself until this Fall. If I had money instead of time, I would have surely used a tutor instead.
It’s a natural thing that children deserve. Our society and government’s inability of providing those is not individual parents’ fault (other than being voters) even though they can afford private remedy for their own children. They are parents after all. It’s their duty to take care of their children.

No Chenmchimney I was not talking about special situations. But I have discussed the issue of learning issues before. The previous post was about kids whose parents don’t want their child to suffer any grades below an A. They don’t want their kids to experience anything close to a negative emotion or a failure of any type. I was referring to those parents for whom school is a competition instead of about scholarship and learning and those parents tend to be clustered in certain school systems and certain schools where there is a climate of ordering out for expertise about every thing from choosing the “best” pre-school to clawing for the top Ivy.

At my son’s BS, the teachers are available for consultation. (An hour a week is not unusual either.) The LC provides peer and teacher tutoring in specific subjects. And as I know from personal experience, when these resources are not enough, they will find an outside tutor who is familiar with the requirements of the class. (In our case, this was a teacher in the department who had time.) The fee for the latter was remarkably low. I do know that some families of day students have hired tutors for their kids (whether they were at this school or another in the area as a day student) but my overall sense is that this is rare.

Thanks everyone. For those of you from the NYC private (and many publics) school world, you will understand what I’m talking about when I say tutoring “culture”. Tutors are hired for 2-4 days per week, in order to keep grades high (B+ and above). Once enough people start doing this, you almost have to hire tutors for your own kid, otherwise they fall behind. This is a big issue, and I know some parents look to boarding schools to get away from this mindset and the pressure that comes with it.