Because Eddie Mayorquin doesn鈥檛 feel well, Faith Singer, who has tutored him for three years, promises to keep the session brief. With each math task鈥攁 worksheet on rounding, a number in the quadrillions for which he has to name all the place values, and a run through the addition and subtraction flashcards鈥攕he reassures him that he鈥檚 almost finished.
Sitting at his kitchen table this Saturday morning, while his mother, Maria Flores, folds laundry on the couch, Eddie, a 14-year-old 10th grader, is subdued, asking only a few questions.
鈥淚 tend to find that high school kids forget their basics, because they鈥檙e so used to working in algebra and geometry,鈥� says Singer.
A former employee of a technology-management company, Singer decided to work with children after losing her boss in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in 2001.
鈥淚 want to work with troubled kids,鈥� says Singer, who is one of about a dozen full-time tutors for ABC-Learn. The nonprofit group is one of 11 tutoring providers for the Los Angeles Unified School District that offer one-to-one home visits to thousands of students who qualify for free tutoring under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
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Throughout the session, Singer tries to give Eddie helpful strategies to arrive quickly at the answers. For subtraction problems, she reminds him of the 鈥渢hree B鈥檚鈥攚hen the bottom is bigger, you borrow.鈥�
Flores says she chose an in-home tutor for her son because of the convenience. And since Eddie has one hour of kickboxing practice every day after school, weekends work better for his schedule. 鈥淲e really needed this kind of help,鈥� his mother says.
Singer says Eddie was struggling with dyslexia when she first tutored him as a 7th grader. In 9th grade, he was working at a 6th grade level in language arts. But by the end of the year, with help from his tutor, Eddie鈥檚 performance had jumped three grade levels.
鈥淚 was so impressed,鈥� Singer says, adding that in a five-paragraph essay Eddie wrote, he misspelled only one word.
ABC-Learn, which operates in California and Oklahoma, was founded in 1996 by Debra Greenfield to tutor teenagers held in juvenile-detention centers. Private sessions work, she says, because students can 鈥渁sk whatever they want to ask because they won鈥檛 look stupid. When they realize they aren鈥檛 stupid, it impacts their personality.鈥�
Founded: 1996 by Debra Greenfield to tutor teenagers in juvenile-detention centers.
Education Model: Nonprofit organization offers one-on-one help for students in their homes.
Size: 120 tutors working with 900 students in LAUSD.
So far, Greenfield鈥攚ho describes herself as a 鈥渢eacher wannabe鈥� who ended up going to law school鈥攈as been running the program out of her home in the San Fernando Valley community of West Hills. But she will soon move the operation into the space of a former print shop in the city of San Fernando, where students and members of the community can use computers that are being donated by Southern California Edison.
So far, about 120 ABC-Learn tutors are working with 900 Los Angeles students, but Greenfield says she is aiming to hire another 70 or 80 tutors. She tries to match tutors with students in their own communities. Some tutors, she says, also prefer working with students at certain grade levels or with particular needs.
Regardless of her recruits鈥� personal interests, Greenfield tests them to see how they鈥檒l respond under pressure.
鈥淚 put them in situations to make their palms sweaty, because I want them to know what that child is going through,鈥� she says.
Near the end of Eddie鈥檚 session with Singer鈥攁s always, it ends with a game鈥攈is mood perks up a little. As Eddie slaps cards from the game Uno down on the stack, he says Singer is able to help him understand concepts he misses in class.
鈥淪he goes through the steps,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y math teacher just writes the problem on the board and says, 鈥楧o it.鈥� 鈥�
