FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You Have Questions? We have answers.

Over the past couple of years we have received many inquires about the Technology Enhanced Supplemental Tutoring (TEST) mission and what our program does. Listed here are the most frequent questions we get. If you have questions about something that is not featured on this page, we would love to hear from you

Will there be random monitoring of tutoring sessions?

Tutoring sessions occur in-home, at public libraries, and on school campus. Every tutoring session will need to be signed off by a parent or guardian. TEST personnel will randomly Read More

observe in person and/or record tutoring sessions to ensure compliance with TEST’s goals and to ensure a consistency among the tutors and assistance received by the enrolled students. An optional release would need to be signed by the guardian of an enrolled student which would allow them to be featured in promotional materials.

What is the tutor recruiting plan? How will TEST ensure tutors are qualified?

TEST will launch a regional outreach for qualified tutors currently enrolled in their senior year of high school or freshmen Read More

year of college, with special attention being paid to students who meet our target demographics or who have previously graduated from our target district. Utilizing multiple job recruitment platforms such as Monster, Linkedin, Glassdoor, and Craigslist we will maximize our search for qualified personnel.

Tutor recruitment will be broken down into two major qualifications. First, non-cognitive qualifications such as prior graduation from our at-risk districts or representation of our target demographics are considered equally important in a TEST tutor as cognitive qualifications for the program. As noted in Eric Digest, “a tutor need not be an excellent student, especially in the case of cross-age tutoring. A sixth grader operating at a fourth grade level can be an excellent helper of a second grader who is also operating below grade level.” Other general categories that will be assessed include: appeal to younger students as a mentor, interpersonal skills, character, community recommendation, and commitment to the role of a tutor.

Cognitive qualifications will be assessed by the prospective tutors’ comprehension of TEST’s written protocols, rubrics, and curriculum; mentors must also demonstrate adequate academic performance and history. Aspen Tree trains prospective mentors so they are equipped to conduct weekly tutoring sessions. Over the period of five days and guided by our curriculum developer, pid tutor training will take place prior to mentors being paired with students.

What is the incentive to become a TEST tutor?

The TEST Program is an intervention program which employs graduates from the same at-risk districts our students are coming from; Read More

on an emotional level we believe this will incentivize our mentors to identify with the TEST Program’s mission. TEST also offers economic incentives of $15.00 USD an hour with reimbursement for travel miles and training.

Will there be random monitoring of tutoring sessions?

Tutoring sessions occur in-home, at public libraries, and on school campus. Every tutoring session will need to be signed off by a parent or guardian. TEST personnel will randomly Read More

observe in person and/or record tutoring sessions to ensure compliance with TEST’s goals and to ensure a consistency among the tutors and assistance received by the enrolled students. An optional release would need to be signed by the guardian of an enrolled student which would allow them to be featured in promotional materials.

What is the tutor recruiting plan? How will TEST ensure tutors are qualified?

TEST will launch a regional outreach for qualified tutors currently enrolled in their senior year of high school or freshmen Read More

year of college, with special attention being paid to students who meet our target demographics or who have previously graduated from our target district. Utilizing multiple job recruitment platforms such as Monster, Linkedin, Glassdoor, and Craigslist we will maximize our search for qualified personnel.

Tutor recruitment will be broken down into two major qualifications. First, non-cognitive qualifications such as prior graduation from our at-risk districts or representation of our target demographics are considered equally important in a TEST tutor as cognitive qualifications for the program. As noted in Eric Digest, “a tutor need not be an excellent student, especially in the case of cross-age tutoring. A sixth grader operating at a fourth grade level can be an excellent helper of a second grader who is also operating below grade level.” Other general categories that will be assessed include: appeal to younger students as a mentor, interpersonal skills, character, community recommendation, and commitment to the role of a tutor.

Cognitive qualifications will be assessed by the prospective tutors’ comprehension of TEST’s written protocols, rubrics, and curriculum; mentors must also demonstrate adequate academic performance and history. Aspen Tree trains prospective mentors so they are equipped to conduct weekly tutoring sessions. Over the period of five days and guided by our curriculum developer, pid tutor training will take place prior to mentors being paired with students.

What is the incentive to become a TEST tutor?

The TEST Program is an intervention program which employs graduates from the same at-risk districts our students are coming from; Read More

on an emotional level we believe this will incentivize our mentors to identify with the TEST Program’s mission. TEST also offers economic incentives of $15.00 USD an hour with reimbursement for travel miles and training.

Will there be random monitoring of tutoring sessions?

Tutoring sessions occur in-home, at public libraries, and on school campus. Every tutoring session will need to be signed off by a parent or guardian. TEST personnel will randomly Read More

observe in person and/or record tutoring sessions to ensure compliance with TEST’s goals and to ensure a consistency among the tutors and assistance received by the enrolled students. An optional release would need to be signed by the guardian of an enrolled student which would allow them to be featured in promotional materials.

What is the tutor recruiting plan? How will TEST ensure tutors are qualified?

TEST will launch a regional outreach for qualified tutors currently enrolled in their senior year of high school or freshmen Read More

year of college, with special attention being paid to students who meet our target demographics or who have previously graduated from our target district. Utilizing multiple job recruitment platforms such as Monster, Linkedin, Glassdoor, and Craigslist we will maximize our search for qualified personnel.

Tutor recruitment will be broken down into two major qualifications. First, non-cognitive qualifications such as prior graduation from our at-risk districts or representation of our target demographics are considered equally important in a TEST tutor as cognitive qualifications for the program. As noted in Eric Digest, “a tutor need not be an excellent student, especially in the case of cross-age tutoring. A sixth grader operating at a fourth grade level can be an excellent helper of a second grader who is also operating below grade level.” Other general categories that will be assessed include: appeal to younger students as a mentor, interpersonal skills, character, community recommendation, and commitment to the role of a tutor.

Cognitive qualifications will be assessed by the prospective tutors’ comprehension of TEST’s written protocols, rubrics, and curriculum; mentors must also demonstrate adequate academic performance and history. Aspen Tree trains prospective mentors so they are equipped to conduct weekly tutoring sessions. Over the period of five days and guided by our curriculum developer, pid tutor training will take place prior to mentors being paired with students.

What is the incentive to become a TEST tutor?

The TEST Program is an intervention program which employs graduates from the same at-risk districts our students are coming from; Read More

on an emotional level we believe this will incentivize our mentors to identify with the TEST Program’s mission. TEST also offers economic incentives of $15.00 USD an hour with reimbursement for travel miles and training.

What if demand outpaces resources?

The TEST Program represents the first time this intervention will be implemented as a developmental trial, with evaluations on effectiveness taking place. The grant period for the federal Read More

award is two to three years. Our current budget supports 100 students for each year the TEST Program is in operation, serving a total of 200 to 300 students. In the event that demand outpaces resources, TEST will estimate the operational costs of serving a single students and make those services available at a nominal charge.

How will you ensure general safety and will there be background checks for tutors?

Live-scan fingerprint clearance will be required of all potential employees interacting with students currently enrolled in Read More

the TEST Program. Additionally, there will be screening interviews with multiple program personnel, background checks, and references which will be verified with transcripts.

How is TEST innovative and set apart from other supplemental education programs?

TEST offers students economic incentives and supports adaptive learning in a digitally synchronous environment. Many current tutoring programs employ the use of technology as a means to an end whereas TEST implements Read More

technology without losing the role of mentorship. TEST would also represent the first federally funded study of its kind.

In a recent publication of The Economist, two Stanford professors, Sebastian Thrun and Andrew Ng, offered courses free of charge online (The Economist) 25 June, “Re-Educating Rita,” Page 10. By the time the course had begun, Thurn’s “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” had 160,000 participants from over 190 different countries. Ng’s course on “Machine Learning” had 100,000 students enrolled. Both courses ran ten weeks and of the total participants who enrolled only 36,000 completed the semester.

TEST aims to address the massive disparities in online enrollment by holding students accountable, keeping them engaged, and introducing the role of an in-person mentor while facilitating digitally synchronous tutoring.

What is the risk mitigation plan for getting the tablet back in the event tutoring is not successful or if the student drops out? What happens when a student loses the tablet (hocks it, sells it, trades it, stolen, etc.)?

All tablets will be documented and etched with a code number to the correlating student enrolled in the program. Tablets will be secured with an ESN which Read More

will be traceable online. In the event a theft occurs the tablet will be traced to the owner and the authorities will be notified.

Parents will sign an agreement on behalf of their students (minors) to be responsible for the tablet. They will be encouraged (or required) to maintain renter’s insurance that would cover the tablet in the event of theft. There must be some acknowledgment that loss of tablets will inevitably occur and will be factored into program costs. The tablet will have software where it can be remotely locked, thereby reducing the intent to steal or not return one of the tablets.

Where a student loses or breaks a tablet, they are provided one replacement, then if it happens again (due to something within one’s control), it will be up to the discretion of TEST to provide another tablet or excuse the student from the program. Selling or hocking a tablet is immediate grounds for dismissal from the program and the parent will be fully liable for the financial cost to replace the tablet.

What evidence supports the TEST proposal? What data supports the need for this research?

Data which supports TEST principles includes forty-eight citations from research studies conducted from 2014 to the present. Problems which TEST aims to address include: 1) Dropout rates and on-time grade promotion among 9th grade students, Read More

2) Disparity in graduation rates of economically disadvantaged students as compared to their counterparts, 3) Disproportionate population of struggling, at-risk, and economically disadvantaged students attending South Mountain and Cesar Chavez high schools, 4) The unsuccessful nature of the asynchronous (online) digital tutoring approach and, 5) The need for further research on the successes of synchronous (in-person) digital tutoring.

TEST will be beneficial to our target community while further expanding on current research by proposing the following demonstrable Solutions: 1) Synchronous (in-person) digital tutoring, 2) Incentivizing education with a reward-based program, 3) Accessible (in-home) tutoring and tutor mobility, 4) Individualized learning within a supplementary education service, and 5) Applying Critical Thinking and Rigorous Learning (CTRL) based curriculum.

Applying these solutions will result in five demonstrable predicted Outcomes for our students. 1) Increased on-time grade promotion among 9th grade TEST students moving into their sophomore year. 2) Improved Grade Point Average and academic standing among TEST students, 3) Measurable increase in four-year high school graduation rates among TEST students, 4) Demonstrable improvement in student self-efficacy, attitudes toward education and learning, as well as plans for future college enrollment, 5) Increased performance on Arizona State testing on AIMS, AzMerit, and national college entrance exams.

How will TEST measure cause and effect?

TEST is introducing two new variables– the tutor and the technology. Through program analysis we will distinguish between the impacts of both variables Read More

by enlisting help from a third-party evaluations team. TEST will record detailed statistics which will document the progression of the program (treatment) against the results found by a control group. We will introduce both pre and post testing to measure each students’ participation in the the TEST program to show results.

How does TEST determine who gets tutoring and who does not?

Tutoring services are offered to at-risk students in our target district in order to assess the success of the TEST Program on factors such as Read More

economic disadvantage and demographics– this being for research purposes related to the grant funding. Students who will receive TEST tutoring will currently be enrolled in reduced lunch prices and show other signs of at-risk status for dropping out of high school or failing to meet on-time grade promotion. Students who will not get TEST tutoring will most likely be in a control group for the purpose of validating our research findings, but may still meet the TEST qualifications listed above. All other students not included in the TEST program most likely did not meet the qualifications of the intervention, or applied after the program reached capacity.

What is the criterion for determining student success and keeping the tablet? How will you ensure the process is fair and culturally sensitive?

Based on variants between a pre and post test geared toward the students’ learning plan we will be able to determine whether or not Read More

the student has successfully completed the curriculum.

Cultural sensitivity can be accomplished by ensuring and encouraging diversity among TEST personnel, mentors, tutors and students. Fairness will be ensured by random monitoring as well as post-program TEST surveys by the tutors, students, and parents.

Will there be random monitoring of tutoring sessions?

Tutoring sessions occur in-home, at public libraries, and on school campus. Every tutoring session will need to be signed off by a parent or guardian. TEST personnel will randomly Read More

observe in person and/or record tutoring sessions to ensure compliance with TEST’s goals and to ensure a consistency among the tutors and assistance received by the enrolled students. An optional release would need to be signed by the guardian of an enrolled student which would allow them to be featured in promotional materials.

What is the tutor recruiting plan? How will TEST ensure tutors are qualified?

TEST will launch a regional outreach for qualified tutors currently enrolled in their senior year of high school or freshmen Read More

year of college, with special attention being paid to students who meet our target demographics or who have previously graduated from our target district. Utilizing multiple job recruitment platforms such as Monster, Linkedin, Glassdoor, and Craigslist we will maximize our search for qualified personnel.

Tutor recruitment will be broken down into two major qualifications. First, non-cognitive qualifications such as prior graduation from our at-risk districts or representation of our target demographics are considered equally important in a TEST tutor as cognitive qualifications for the program. As noted in Eric Digest, “a tutor need not be an excellent student, especially in the case of cross-age tutoring. A sixth grader operating at a fourth grade level can be an excellent helper of a second grader who is also operating below grade level.” Other general categories that will be assessed include: appeal to younger students as a mentor, interpersonal skills, character, community recommendation, and commitment to the role of a tutor.

Cognitive qualifications will be assessed by the prospective tutors’ comprehension of TEST’s written protocols, rubrics, and curriculum; mentors must also demonstrate adequate academic performance and history. Aspen Tree trains prospective mentors so they are equipped to conduct weekly tutoring sessions. Over the period of five days and guided by our curriculum developer, pid tutor training will take place prior to mentors being paired with students.

What is the incentive to become a TEST tutor?

The TEST Program is an intervention program which employs graduates from the same at-risk districts our students are coming from; Read More

on an emotional level we believe this will incentivize our mentors to identify with the TEST Program’s mission. TEST also offers economic incentives of $15.00 USD an hour with reimbursement for travel miles and training.

What if demand outpaces resources?

The TEST Program represents the first time this intervention will be implemented as a developmental trial, with evaluations on effectiveness taking place. The grant period for the federal Read More

award is two to three years. Our current budget supports 100 students for each year the TEST Program is in operation, serving a total of 200 to 300 students. In the event that demand outpaces resources, TEST will estimate the operational costs of serving a single students and make those services available at a nominal charge.

How will you ensure general safety and will there be background checks for tutors?

Live-scan fingerprint clearance will be required of all potential employees interacting with students currently enrolled in Read More

the TEST Program. Additionally, there will be screening interviews with multiple program personnel, background checks, and references which will be verified with transcripts.

How is TEST innovative and set apart from other supplemental education programs?

TEST offers students economic incentives and supports adaptive learning in a digitally synchronous environment. Many current tutoring programs employ the use of technology as a means to an end whereas TEST implements Read More

technology without losing the role of mentorship. TEST would also represent the first federally funded study of its kind.

In a recent publication of The Economist, two Stanford professors, Sebastian Thrun and Andrew Ng, offered courses free of charge online (The Economist) 25 June, “Re-Educating Rita,” Page 10. By the time the course had begun, Thurn’s “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” had 160,000 participants from over 190 different countries. Ng’s course on “Machine Learning” had 100,000 students enrolled. Both courses ran ten weeks and of the total participants who enrolled only 36,000 completed the semester.

TEST aims to address the massive disparities in online enrollment by holding students accountable, keeping them engaged, and introducing the role of an in-person mentor while facilitating digitally synchronous tutoring.

What is the risk mitigation plan for getting the tablet back in the event tutoring is not successful or if the student drops out? What happens when a student loses the tablet (hocks it, sells it, trades it, stolen, etc.)?

All tablets will be documented and etched with a code number to the correlating student enrolled in the program. Tablets will be secured with an ESN which Read More

will be traceable online. In the event a theft occurs the tablet will be traced to the owner and the authorities will be notified.

Parents will sign an agreement on behalf of their students (minors) to be responsible for the tablet. They will be encouraged (or required) to maintain renter’s insurance that would cover the tablet in the event of theft. There must be some acknowledgment that loss of tablets will inevitably occur and will be factored into program costs. The tablet will have software where it can be remotely locked, thereby reducing the intent to steal or not return one of the tablets.

Where a student loses or breaks a tablet, they are provided one replacement, then if it happens again (due to something within one’s control), it will be up to the discretion of TEST to provide another tablet or excuse the student from the program. Selling or hocking a tablet is immediate grounds for dismissal from the program and the parent will be fully liable for the financial cost to replace the tablet.

What evidence supports the TEST proposal? What data supports the need for this research?

Data which supports TEST principles includes forty-eight citations from research studies conducted from 2014 to the present. Problems which TEST aims to address include: 1) Dropout rates and on-time grade promotion among 9th grade students, Read More

2) Disparity in graduation rates of economically disadvantaged students as compared to their counterparts, 3) Disproportionate population of struggling, at-risk, and economically disadvantaged students attending South Mountain and Cesar Chavez high schools, 4) The unsuccessful nature of the asynchronous (online) digital tutoring approach and, 5) The need for further research on the successes of synchronous (in-person) digital tutoring.

TEST will be beneficial to our target community while further expanding on current research by proposing the following demonstrable Solutions: 1) Synchronous (in-person) digital tutoring, 2) Incentivizing education with a reward-based program, 3) Accessible (in-home) tutoring and tutor mobility, 4) Individualized learning within a supplementary education service, and 5) Applying Critical Thinking and Rigorous Learning (CTRL) based curriculum.

Applying these solutions will result in five demonstrable predicted Outcomes for our students. 1) Increased on-time grade promotion among 9th grade TEST students moving into their sophomore year. 2) Improved Grade Point Average and academic standing among TEST students, 3) Measurable increase in four-year high school graduation rates among TEST students, 4) Demonstrable improvement in student self-efficacy, attitudes toward education and learning, as well as plans for future college enrollment, 5) Increased performance on Arizona State testing on AIMS, AzMerit, and national college entrance exams.

How will TEST measure cause and effect?

TEST is introducing two new variables– the tutor and the technology. Through program analysis we will distinguish between the impacts of both variables Read More

by enlisting help from a third-party evaluations team. TEST will record detailed statistics which will document the progression of the program (treatment) against the results found by a control group. We will introduce both pre and post testing to measure each students’ participation in the the TEST program to show results.

How does TEST determine who gets tutoring and who does not?

Tutoring services are offered to at-risk students in our target district in order to assess the success of the TEST Program on factors such as Read More

economic disadvantage and demographics– this being for research purposes related to the grant funding. Students who will receive TEST tutoring will currently be enrolled in reduced lunch prices and show other signs of at-risk status for dropping out of high school or failing to meet on-time grade promotion. Students who will not get TEST tutoring will most likely be in a control group for the purpose of validating our research findings, but may still meet the TEST qualifications listed above. All other students not included in the TEST program most likely did not meet the qualifications of the intervention, or applied after the program reached capacity.

What is the criterion for determining student success and keeping the tablet? How will you ensure the process is fair and culturally sensitive?

Based on variants between a pre and post test geared toward the students’ learning plan we will be able to determine whether or not Read More

the student has successfully completed the curriculum.

Cultural sensitivity can be accomplished by ensuring and encouraging diversity among TEST personnel, mentors, tutors and students. Fairness will be ensured by random monitoring as well as post-program TEST surveys by the tutors, students, and parents.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TEST:

Executive Summary

Business &
Logic Model

Fact Sheet

Timeline

QUESTIONS? CALL

623-546-1190

333 E. MCKINLEY ST.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

MON-FRI

8 am — 5 pm

SEND EMAIL TO

info@aspentreeaz.org

QUESTIONS? CALL

623-546-1190

333 E. MCKINLEY ST.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

MON-FRI

8 am — 5 pm

SEND EMAIL TO

info@aspentreeaz.org

QUESTIONS? CALL

623-546-1190

MON-FRI

8 am — 5 pm

333 E. MCKINLEY ST.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

SEND EMAIL TO

info@aspentreeaz.org

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