Aligned Interventions Educational Services is a state-approved Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Provider. Services are provided either at the school or at a neighborhood public facility, such as the library or a community center. We are currently approved in the area of English (Reading & Writing) for grades K-12.
Our Supplemental Educational Services provide FREE tutoring for students who attend qualifying schools and receive free or reduced lunch. Please contact us at alignmentrules@aol.com for a list of qualifying schools and to see if your student(s) can apply to receive this FREE tutoring.
Students are served in small groups. Sessions are held 2-4 days per week for a total of preferably 4 hours per week. Tutoring Sessions include a quick review of the last lesson’s objective; direct instruction using interactive note-taking with tutor explanation and demonstration of the objective/skill; shared practice of the objective/skill; independent practice for students who demonstrate comprehension of the objective/skill; application of the objective/skill to real-life situations using students’ multiple intelligences and learning styles; and assessment of the objective/skill. Using the school’s curriculum and SOL-focused materials/games/assessments, Aligned Interventions’ tutors teach state standards with an emphasis on developing reading comprehension skills and enhancing test-taking strategies.
Often students do poorly on high stakes testing not because they don’t understand core area concepts, but rather because they cannot read and comprehend the tests. Focusing on improving comprehension strategies in all content reading will minimize these problems and increase student achievement, so that no child is left behind.
Generally, students who score close to the benchmark but don’t quite score high enough to pass the test understand the content, but need help with how to be a smart test-taker. Aligned Interventions’ focus on test-taking strategies gives these students just the boost they need to succeed.
Aligned Interventions’ tutors are certified and highly qualified classroom teachers or instructional assistants, third or fourth-year college students majoring in education or a related field, and retired educators with tutorial experience. Before working with students, all tutors must successfully complete: 1) screening; 2) training in Developing Reading Comprehension and Decoding Skills, Test-Taking Strategies, Lesson Planning and Direct Instruction, Differentiated Instruction and Behavior Management, Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles, Interactive Note-Taking, and Recording and Reporting Data; and 3) an assessment on the training information. Instruction is monitored and tutors also receive on-going professional development as needed.
Pre and post assessments used by Aligned Interventions are directly aligned with the content, rigor, and reliability of Virginia PALS assessment (for students taking the PALS in the spring) and the Virginia Standards of Learning Blueprint (for students who will take spring SOLs). Pre and post evaluations are used to determine initial student need and to measure student growth at program end.
Individual benchmark assessments are also administered for each objective/skill taught. These evaluations are used to determine student mastery and to establish the possible need for re-teaching or review.
Student progress reports are sent to parents monthly, sharing the objectives/skills taught, scores on individual benchmark assessments, and attendance. Parents also receive phone calls and folders containing student’s work. Parents can email responses, questions, concerns, etc. directly to tutors through the Contact Us link on Aligned Intervention’s Website. Results from pre and post evaluations are also shared with parents and the school. An item analysis of the pre- and post-tests is available to parents to show exactly which SOL objectives are mastered, partially mastered, or not mastered at all.
During the 2004-2005 program year, analyzed data indicated that students served by Aligned Interventions made significant gains, ranging from 25 to 61 percent. Last spring (2006) 82% of AI’s program students either met or made substantial progress towards established achievement goals.
Comments from students and teachers of students served by Aligned Interventions also substantiate the positive impact of Aligned Interventions realized in the Caroline County Middle School project. One sixth grade student reported, “Tutoring has improved my reading and test taking skills. Tutoring helped me understand questions better.” An eighth grade student wrote, “I was grateful to be chosen to participate in this program. It helped me bring up my report card and test grades. It also helped me overcome test anxiety.”
Teachers too were excited about positive changes achieved through Aligned Interventions’ services. Further supporting the intervention’s positive impact, one Caroline teacher stated,
“Not once did they wish to miss class, they were enthusiastic going to tutoring and returning, and eagerly shared with me everyday what they did and what they accomplished individually. One little guy does not have his folders, notebooks, and work from this year that was required (in my class), but he has the materials your tutors used with him everyday...The students who were involved from my Social Studies classes represented five facets: post-Special Education, physically slow in working and reacting, ESL student, needs one-on-one, and one who just was not interested at all. … In the months they attended tutoring, I saw growth and success in each one of them.”
As the evidence shows, Aligned Interventions provides effective, high quality supplemental educational services for underachieving students with various needs. Students, teachers, and program data all concur: Aligned Interventions has a very positive impact on students’ academic achievement.
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