Enrichment & Tutoring: Why Not Both?
October 6, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Please allow me two broad generalizations:
#1) Schools designed to meet the needs of kids in poverty tend to emphasize remediation over enrichment and specials.
#2) Schools designed to meet the needs of kids who are traditionally high performing are generally loaded with enrichment activities.
– Hold those two over-generalizations in your mind for a moment–
Today, our 4.0 Schools Team met with two of the leaders of the MATCH Charter School in Boston: Alan Safran and Mike Goldstein.
For the last 8 years, MATCH has achieved great results due, in part, to its MATCH Corps program. MATCH Corps members are full-time tutors integrated into the school day to provide all students with one-on-two tutoring during the school day. They are not ‘after school tutors,’ but are full-time staff in the same way teachers are. All students at MATCH receive tutoring - not just those needing remediation. I love this idea, and I really love it at a diverse school. All people are unique and can learn more with individualized attention. I wonder: would small group tutoring integrated into the school day be attractive to parents of all stripes? I think so. Would it be worth extending the school day to 4:00 or 4:30? I bet it might.
But what about those enrichment activities? Usually ‘extended school days’ are devoted to enrichment activities, and maybe the extra tutoring time would take away from them. Well, we can’t lose enrichment activities. All kids need them, and if you take them away, you’ll lose many of the middle class and affluent students whose parents have a variety of options.
So why not both?
Can a school provide regular enrichment opportunities, small group tutoring and in an academically rigorous and socially diverse environment between 8:00 – 4:00 or 4:30? It’s a tall order, but it sure sounds appetizing to me as an educator and as a parent.
