Tutoring and intensive instruction have a lot in common; both offer additional help outside the classroom to students who are struggling. Often, they are both delivered to one student by one tutor or teacher. Both work to build a student’s confidence while helping to deepen their understanding of the material. But tutoring and intensive instruction are very different in how they are performed and their overall goals.

Tutoring is often used when a student is struggling with a specific subject or is unable to keep up with increasingly difficult material. A tutor can help them understand a concept or work with them through the entire semester. Intensive instruction is broader and designed to help a student learn core concepts like reading, writing, math, and how to understand and recall information for future use. The length of time spent with a tutor or instructor is also very different.  Tutoring usually only takes one or two hours a week. Because the goals of intensive instruction are very different, we suggest working with these students for sixteen to twenty hours a week. This allows the student to master core concepts and skills, which is much different than remembering facts for a test or mastering Algebra to complete a class.

The qualifications and background of the person working with your student also differ greatly between tutoring and intensive instruction.  Tutoring can be done by anyone who understands the subject enough to teach it.  They do not need to be an expert in that field.  Tutoring can be done by their peers, teachers, or other qualified or trained professionals. Intensive instructors are highly trained to work with students who are struggling to build core academic skills. At the Fort Wayne Center for Learning, instructors receive extensive training on how to help students with specific needs and challenges. 

The biggest difference between tutoring and intensive instruction is the goals that each will accomplish. Tutoring is often content-based based meaning that it focuses on the content being learned.  This looks like learning how to solve mathematical problems, learning dates and facts, and understanding concepts specific to the subject. Intensive instruction is process-based, meaning students are being taught how to develop their understanding of the process within a broader subject. This looks like developing a strategy to solve word problems in math or sounding out words so that new words can be decoded. Tutoring is like teaching someone to fish, and intensive instruction is like teaching someone how to hunt, gather, and cultivate the land. Tutoring teaches skills, while intensive instruction teaches broader concepts and skills. Essentially, intensive instruction is teaching students how to learn so they can overcome more difficult curriculum in the future.

In short, tutoring and intensive instruction are extremely useful in helping a student overcome hurdles in their education, help them build confidence, and see success in their abilities. The level of difficulty the student has is the biggest determining factor in what they need.

Some tips for getting the help your student needs:

1.   Look for a company or program that is willing to be flexible to meet your student’s needs.

2.   Find a program or tutor that can be transparent in what they are working on with your student and how they are helping them.  As a parent, be willing to continue the work at home if possible.

3.   Find a program that will work with you and your child to create the program they need.  You may not be a teacher, but you are an expert on your child.

4.   Be open to hearing the instructor’s comments and suggestions; we see things that you may not.

5.   Communicate with your child’s teacher. Their teacher can help you understand what your student is struggling with and if they need intensive instruction or tutoring.

The staff at the Fort Wayne Center for Learning is always happy to help answer questions about our tutoring and intensive instructional programs