The peer tutoring program at Evanston Township High School. Evanston IL, is run by program coordinator Ms. Avani Khandhar who is responsible for tutor recruitment, training and troubleshooting when tutors / tutees are not meeting expectations. The program matches tutors and tutees for peer tutoring. Prior to the pandemic, tutors and tutees met in person in subject area specific academic study centers at the school. The program has since moved online by way of Zoom, as the school has been fully remote since last fall.
Tutees fill out a tutor request form indicating their need, availability, and subject of interest. They may be guided to this form by teachers, counselors, peers / word of mouth or through the school website. Although tutees ae able to receive tutoring in any subject that has an available tutor, most tutoring requests are for various math classes.
Students become tutors based on interest. They indicate their availability and subject areas/classes they are able to tutor in. Tutors go through a training session before they are potentially matched with a tutee. This training includes logistics, the do's and don'ts of tutoring, and Q & A.
Tutors and tutees meet once a week during a common free period for 40-60 minutes. They meet in a supervised location (Academic Study Centers) where there are also teachers available to answer questions. Tutors are encouraged to help the student review class notes, go over homework questions, etc. They are also trained to ask questions such as: Can you explain how we just did this in your own words? or Can you do another problem like this?
Communication is a challenge, as students don't always check their emails, establishing a match can be sometimes difficult. Also, both tutors and tutees may forget to meet which can be frustrating for the other party.
Below is a sample presentation used in training new tutors at Evanston Township High School:
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