How do I start tutoring?
January 31, 2011 9:22 AM   Subscribe

I want to start test prep tutoring this summer on the side for a bit of extra money and to be helpful to others. I would really prefer to do it independently. How should I go about structuring the sessions, getting students, actually getting these students to pay me?

I've never done tutoring before. I'm not worried about the specific material because I know that material quite well and have a lot of resources to work with, but I don't know tutoring in general--how to handle beginning and continuing assessment of progress, how long sessions ought to be, how frequent, how to find students, how to do billing, that kind of thing.

Any informational resources or advice is welcome, or for that matter just anecdotes if something specifically did/didn't work for you, whether you were the tutor or the student.
posted by gracedissolved to Work & Money (10 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
When you say that you know the material quite well, do you mean that you yourself have done well on the tests you plan to teach, or do you mean that you understand the pedagogy of the tests and the strategies used to break down the questions and answers?
posted by decathecting at 9:38 AM on January 31, 2011


I did test prep instructor and tutoring for many years, but with a company.

Here are some issues that I see with going independent:

- How do you find clients? Advertising (especially if you're aiming at a high school-aged audience) is quite challenging, especially without references.
- The materials and resources that you have do exist, but it is nice to have a teacher's guide and the student have a textbook.
- What about practice tests? People pay for the big companies in order to get access to practice tests.
- The companies have spent a lot of time coming up with strategies that do actually work for most people.
- The billing aspect is tough -- will you take checks? How are you going to report it on your taxes? With a company at least, they can pay by credit card and you're not in the (often) awkward position of making people pay. This gets really weird. What if s/he doesn't improve? What if they want their money back?

PERSONALLY, I'd start out by working for an existing company, learning their methods, figuring out the ropes (and to see if you actually like doing this sort of work -- trust me, it isn't for everyone!), and then after the statute of limitations is up, breaking off on your own.
posted by k8t at 10:00 AM on January 31, 2011


I tutored K-12 for five years during and right after college, taking students in both "regular" academic tutoring sessions and sessions for every standardized test out there. I always worked with a company solely for the billing/refund/tax reasons k8t listed. My company had a streamlined online system where parents paid in advance for tutoring hours - if the student didn't have enough hours in their account, the system didn't let me set up sessions with the kid. It was easy peasy and I never had to be the person to deal with parents and money. It let me focus on what the students were really learning.

So if you go it alone and you're only equipped to take checks, be prepared to spend a lot of time chasing down your money. While most folks are nice, be prepared for the possibility that Little Johnny's parents might refuse to pay you because he didn't get a perfect score. Factor this breakage into your revenue model, or see a lawyer-type person about drawing up a pre-tutoring agreement for the parents to sign that specifies that you cannot guarantee a score. Like I said: it'll be a PITA, just as a forewarning.

As for the questions you have about actual tutoring, a lot of that is going to depend on each particular student. My typical session length was 1.5-2 hours/week for test prep, but I did work with some students with attention issues and we met twice a week for 1 hr or 3 times a week for 45 minutes because they focused better in shorter bursts. You can adjust this after your first few meetings as you get a better sense of your student. Definitely have an intake chat with the parents before you set up sessions to find out about the students' strengths, weaknesses, focus issues, goals, etc - this is something companies do before they assign students to tutors to arm the tutors with the information they need to do a good job, so don't skip it if you're going it alone.

The structure of your sessions will also depend on your student. Some students may be functioning at a very high level and need work to max out the test, so to speak - with these students you may want to do timing drills to make sure every question gets answered, go over the hardest questions, etc. There are specific prep books for high-scoring test takers that I drew practice questions from for these types of students. On the other end of the scale, you may have students, and with them it may be best to focus your efforts on getting them comfortable with the test and 75% of the material they're likely to encounter. Some of your students may be really motivated and great about doing homework and practice tests in between your sessions, and some students won't touch homework so you'll have to take time out of your sessions to administer practice tests. You get my gist - every student is going to be different. The most important thing you can do as a tutor is be attuned to each students' strengths, needs, and goals, and adjust your planning accordingly throughout your time with them.

I killed two birds with one stone and monitored progress while keeping parents updated by writing session notes within 48 hours of each tutoring session. It helped me organize my thoughts and track the students' progress, too. These were uploaded to the students' account and the parent(s) could log in on their end and read/respond to me as necessary. You can achieve the same effect by emailing parents after each session. You will maximize satisfaction with your services by staying in touch with parents and providing frequent progress updates.

Feel free to memail if you want to discuss further. Good luck!
posted by superfluousm at 10:37 AM on January 31, 2011


Bleh, typing too fast. Fourth sentence of the third paragraph should read, "On the other end of the scale, you may have students who really struggle..."
posted by superfluousm at 10:39 AM on January 31, 2011


Adding to k8t,
- Parental management. When the kids parents start asking lots of questions and have panic attacks about their kids scores, you have the office to send them to. A life saver.
posted by hipersons at 11:02 AM on January 31, 2011


You have to find a good, quiet place to tutor. Students tend to get distracted in public places like coffee shops, etc. A lot of kids won't want to be seen by their friends, either, so keep that in mind, as well.
posted by griseus at 11:19 AM on January 31, 2011


I've done this (on a pretty small scale). I found my client on craigslist - she had posted looking for a tutor. We met at a public library that had private study rooms, and she paid me in cash after each session. She also paid for a few test prep books that I purchased; I just gave her the receipt. We scheduled as we went, meeting about once a week over two months. I was really flexible about time and if she had to cancel, which she did a few times.

This worked fine, but I could see how there could be problems. I was comfortable tutoring in a semi-private place because the rooms had glass windows, but if I were male I imagine I'd have second thoughts about that (so unfair!) I'll report the cash with my other cash earnings from babysitting. I kept a log with the hours and payments.

I was confident in my ability to help her because she started so low in the area she was looking to improve. My scores were significantly higher in all parts, and she told me that that's why she chose me. Our main focus was on actual test-taking strategies-- timing, eliminating obvious wrong answers, looking for distractors, plugging in answers to see if they "work." We also covered basic content knowledge. She ended up improving her score in the focus area by 100 points.

I've tried posting on craigslist advertising my services, but have had no luck thus far. The season may be wrong for it now; summer would probably be better.

Test prep companies charge a lot for their services. Independent tutors can set a fairly high hourly rate and still be competitive. She asked me to name my price and I said $15, but I probably could have gone up to $25. YMMV based on location, scores, the college you went to. etc.
posted by charmcityblues at 12:51 PM on January 31, 2011


A few other thoughts --

- At the company we were not supposed to go to the kid's homes for liability issues. The parents REALLY wanted us to come there and would sometimes weasel their way in. Going to the homes was almost always awkward. Where do you work? Are the parents around? Are you alone with the child?

- Many people (kids and adults alike) that sign up for test prep tutoring actually have a learning disability (in my experience.) I'd even say that over 50% that I tutored did. But because of a variety of things, we weren't really supposed to know these things unless the individual or parent disclosed it. But my take on this was -- I'm not an educator. I am a person that can teach you how to take a test better. And more importantly, I have 0 training in special education. So often I'd be in a situation where I was making things up as I went along to accomodate a learning disability. I had one student that was honestly in test prep for 5+ years (not with me, he switched around a lot), trying to get an okay score to get into a particular grad school, and it was beyond our ability to help. (We privately thought he probably had a memory problem.)

- The other group of tutorees tended to be those looking for a perfect score. Those are sometimes even harder to deal with. The parents are pretty nuts too sometimes.

- What's your policy on make ups, no shows, etc.? At least with a company, you'll still get paid for the first hour or whatever.

- You'll definately want a legal contract.

- To add to hipersons, the high school aged students' parents could be a complete nightmare. I could go on and on and on... kids throwing the test to spite their parents, for example.
posted by k8t at 1:01 PM on January 31, 2011


Oh, and what about extra time outside tutoring and transportation cost? So, if a parent talks your ear off on the phone for over an hour, if you're independent, you'll have to eat that. With a company, you can chalk it up as "prep time."
posted by k8t at 1:03 PM on January 31, 2011


I have done this with solid success.

Where I live, there are 3 posh private schools. All of them have someone that is a "tutoring coordinator" or something like it. Reach out to the school and find this person and get on their list for everything you are comfortable tutoring. Parents will go to this person and ask who they might be able to work with. This is great for leads. Further, the parents of the kids at posh private schools always pay up with zero hassle and probably care less about your hourly rate.

Word of mouth is also quite good. If you can make a meaningful difference in their kid's scores/grades/performance, they will pass your name and contact info along if any of their friend's kids need help.

I have no trouble collecting, so much so that I just keep track of the hours over a number of sessions and ask for a check every couple of weeks.

I usually work at their house in whatever closest approximates a dining room. I live very close to these schools so I end up living pretty close to the students. Doing it at their house is nice because you can also build a relationship with the parents (useful for word of mouth, collection lubrication, and general networking). I am a borderline family member at the houses I frequent most often.

MeMail me if you have any other specific questions on the topic, I will be happy to help to the best of my ability.
posted by milqman at 8:40 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]


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