Rather than driving your child to a learning center, tutoring is done in a familiar learning environment, your home, where the student is most comfortable and distractions can be minimized. The student gets individualized attention while saving time for parents and ensuring that tutoring is done according to your preferred schedule.

Your child deserves the undivided attention of the tutor, which is not possible when the tutor is responsible for working with several students as the same time. Working one-to-one allows us to focus on the student's specific needs and tailor instruction to fit his or her pace of learning and unique learning style.

Above Grade Level uses Research-Based Best Practices as recommended by leading experts in tutoring.

These recommendations include:

In-home tutoring rather than driving your child to a learning center, tutoring is done in a familiar learning environment, your home, where distractions can be minimized.

Use of diagnostic tools our skill assessments in math and reading were developed by professors at the University of California, Berkeley, are keyed to California State Standards and used by over 30 school districts in California.

Trained and qualified tutors our tutors are screened and tested to ensure their ability to teach the subjects assigned to them. Tutors are either credentialed teachers or specialists with university training in the subject.

Tutoring methods that engage the student in an active learning process our multisensory approach using a structured curriculum ensures maximum learning outcomes.

Mentoring students on how to learn We not only teach the subject matter, but how to become a more effective learner as a life-long skill.

Mentoring parents on how to maintain the learning process Parents learn how to help their child to maintain effective learning

Tracking session to session progress we provide regular feedback to parents to ensure you can see the progress your child is making.

Use of continuous feedback students receive constant feedback so they know immediately how they are doing.

Formal and informal assessment throughout tutoring students are consistently tested to ensure that they are building the foundation of concepts needed for long-term success.

Collaboration with classroom teacher We encourage the student's teacher to work collaboratively with us to ensure effective learning in the classroom.

At Above Grade Level, we believe that an effective tutoring program should begin with an accurate assessment of your child's academic strengths and weaknesses. So, we provide a comprehensive assessment developed by professors at the University of California, Berkeley that is keyed to California State Standards for each grade level. This ensures that we can identify the areas where your child may have missed critical skills or needs special attention. The curriculum is structured to fill-in any gaps in prior learning so future success can be assured.

Unlike the assessments offered by many other tutoring companies, which they have developed themselves, the assessment we use was developed by experts in the field and keyed to the California State Standards that your child's school follows at each grade level. This gives us a detailed picture of how your child is doing in each of the areas that he or she will be expected to master in school. In fact, this is the same assessment used by over 30 school districts in California to assess student learning in their own programs.

This assessment has a value of $150, but we offer it free of charge so you can see precisely where your child's strengths and weaknesses are in areas such as math and reading. The assessment takes about 30-45 minutes and is taken by your child on-line at a time that best suits your family schedule. We then arrange for a free in-home consultation to discuss the results in detail with you. There is no cost or obligation for this consultation and whether you choose to arrange for tutoring for your child, or not, you will be much better informed about his or her learning needs.

Yes! We encourage the student's teacher to work collaboratively with us to ensure effective learning in the classroom.

The number of tutoring sessions depends on the needs of the student. Once the assessment is completed, we can design a curriculum and suggest how many sessions may be needed to address the areas where the student needs our help.

Tutors come to your home to work with your child according to the schedule that works best for the student and your family.

Sessions may be one to two hours, depending on what works best for the student and the learning program.

Our tutors are screened and tested to ensure their ability to teach the subjects assigned to them. Tutors are either credentialed teachers or specialists with university training in the subject.