Another Summer Of Outstanding Results Through Tutoring At The Library

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Last summer, the Time With Teacher tutoring program at the Dade County Public Library led to significant improvement for a number of children, and tutors and parents alike are happy to report that this summer was no different. The program returned last year after a several year hiatus, and funding remains for it to continue through the rest of 2024 (or longer, depending on how many sessions are scheduled in the coming months).

Families made use of the program during the school year, completing 235 sessions from August 2023 through May 2024 (an average of 23.5 sessions per month). With summer being a critical time to prevent learning loss (often called “summer slide”), and with families and tutors having more flexible time, June and July saw a jump to 150 sessions (an average of 75 each month).

Rebecca Jones brought her son, Andy, to tutoring throughout the month of July because she wanted him to refresh his learning and retain what he’d learned last year. His primary tutor was Grace Brown, a special education teacher at Davis Elementary School. Andy is good at math, so he and Brown worked on writing and spelling instead.

Jones said that Andy looked forward to the tutoring sessions, and they hope to attend several more sessions throughout the school year.

Another family started Time With Teacher sessions with big goals, and they weren’t disappointed. Tammee Schrudder started bringing her granddaughter, Maggie Higdon, to tutoring sessions with Jennifer Palumbo at the end of last semester, and they continued with three weekly sessions throughout the summer. Schrudder said, “It’s been a miracle.”

When Higdon was tested for ADHD, the testing center also found that she is dyslexic. Schrudder recalled, “They told us she would never learn to read or write. My daughter was so upset because it’s heartbreaking to hear that your child will never read or write, but we never lost hope.”

With the help of Palumbo, Higdon is starting first grade now able to both read and write. Schrudder said, “We’re just very, very thankful. Jen is precious. Everybody at the library is so wonderful and kind and excited about Maggie’s improvement. We proved the tests wrong. They can’t tell you what this child is going to do.”

Palumbo has been a Time With Teacher tutor since the program returned last year, and it’s been a rich, rewarding experience for her. She particularly enjoys teaching the basics of reading so that students have a good foundation for lifelong learning.

About 16 years ago, Palumbo was a teacher in Maryland. For the last eight years, she’s been homeschooling her children. Therefore, “This was a neat way to continue teaching outside of the home and get to know part of the community.”

She values the individualization that tutoring offers students, noting that some kids like to stay quiet and focused while others prefer more activity and movement when they learn. “As a tutor, you can do whatever they need in that moment. You meet them exactly where they are, you’re not following a curriculum, and you can do exactly what they need to reach the next step.”

While Palumbo appreciates the work that happens in school classrooms, she knows that teachers are limited in how much attention they can spend with each student. “Tutoring offers one-on-one time that is completely geared around what that student needs with no distractions. That just isn’t available in the classroom. The best results are when the parent, the classroom teacher, and the tutor are all working together from different angles for the same goal.”

Time With Teacher tutors report to parents at the end of each session about what they worked on and what can be continued at home, and Palumbo has witnessed the impact parents have when they’re able to work with their children at home.

In addition to parent involvement, consistency is key to tutoring results. She explained, “Repeat students are where I think you get the richest, deepest reward. Every tutoring session, a small step is made. There is rarely a quick fix for reading or math challenges.”

Consistency also improves the tutor-student relationship. “There’s a really neat camaraderie that can happen between a tutor and student,” Palumbo explained. “When the kids see that you’re advocating for them and doing creative things to problem solve, they leave encouraged. Sometimes, they’ve heard conversations about how behind they are and what a problem it is, but when they note their own progress, they see that something is working.”

Jessica Kempski agreed that the one-on-one time made an impact on her kids, Harlan and Eliza. She signed them up for tutoring this summer so they could work on reading comprehension and fluency.

Eliza, who is starting sixth grade, saw improvement in reading fluency, and she currently is enjoying reading the Harry Potter series. Harlan is starting fourth grade, and he made major progress over the summer.

Kempski explained that he started the summer reading below his grade level, but he’s now on track to start the school year at his grade level. She said, “Harlan has improved immensely. They test them on how many words they read per minute, and he’s improved in that. He just went up another level on July 24.”

Both of the kids now read at home more because it’s easier and more enjoyable. They were confident enough to complete the library’s summer reading challenge, and Harlan now reads at home every night. He especially likes books about history and the natural world, and he and his sister both enjoy Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Harlan had the added benefit of being tutored by Leah Bible who taught him at Davis last year. In Kempski’s words, “Miss Bible is amazing. She already knew where he was struggling a little bit.”

She concluded, “I want to thank the library for allowing this type of grant/program. Not every parent out there can afford individual tutoring like this.”

Bible (third grade teacher at Davis) tutored at the library last summer and again this summer, but full-time teaching limits how many Time With Teacher sessions she can do during the school year. Bible appreciates the program because she knows there is a need and desire for tutoring, but she doesn’t like charging parents. “I know my time is valuable, but I have a hard time charging parents for something their kids need. With this program, us tutors get paid but it’s free for families who need it.”

Like Palumbo, Bible sees the best results from consistent sessions with one tutor, but she added that even a few tutoring sessions can prevent summer slide. In the classroom, she often sees students spending the first few months of school getting back to where they were at the end of the previous semester.

With her expertise as a classroom teacher, Bible is able to help parents learn how to advocate for their students. She said, “Sometimes parents just don’t know what to ask for.”

Bible herself has ADHD, so she fully understands the struggles some students face. “I put that I have ADHD in my bio, because a lot of parents have kids with ADHD but don’t have someone to talk to about it. I can talk straight with them about it outside of the school setting.”

With her perspective as a local teacher, Bible especially appreciates how tutoring supplements the work happening in the schools. “When you have Dade County teachers tutoring Dade County students outside of the classroom, I’m invested in them even though they’re not my classroom students. We want our system to do well; we want our schools to do well. If I have a student who’s struggling, I recommend Time With Teacher because I know there’s good tutors there.”

State Representative Mike Cameron (who secured the funding to continue the program) recalled how fortunate he was to be reading well above his grade level at a young age. He said, “The program is making a difference. Reading is the building block of learning, and it’s served me well all these years.”

Cameron reported that he’s talked to Senator Raphael Warnock’s office about federal funding to continue the program in the future, and he will look for funding at the state level as well.