Who Can Participate?
- Undergraduate work-study students can work as literacy tutors.
- Graduate work-study students can work as coach mentors.
Are there Additional Qualifications?
You must be available to work at least 2 hours at a time and at least 2 days a week. Work-study tutors must commit to working at least 6 hours per week. Students interested in becoming America Counts tutors must have at least a B or higher in one of many first year UNC-CH mathematics courses or qualifying tests.
What responsibilities does a tutor have?
- Attend all training sessions, tutoring sessions, and team meetings.
- Tutor the same children twice a week.
- Write simple lesson plans for each tutoring session.
- Demonstrate consistent and punctual attendance.
- Demonstrate a desire to work with young or middle school children
- Demonstrate a serious commitment to your job.
What do I need to know about training?
Receiving continuous training and support is a hallmark of this program, and consequently, all training sessions and team meetings are mandatory. You will be paid your regular rate for all training sessions and team meetings.
These training sessions are required for new tutors, and you cannot tutor unless you attend all sessions in entirety. Once tutoring begins, you will meet in small groups (teams) for one hour a week most weeks in order to receive support and on-going training. During the second semester, these meetings will be approximately every other week. These meetings are held during the week (not on Saturdays), are a part of the tutor’s job, and attendance is mandatory. Tutors will also have the opportunity to attend special SCALE events throughout the year.
How will I get to my site?
Most of our tutoring sites are within 15 miles of campus, but due to bus schedules and tutor class schedules, it is recommended that tutors have access to a car or other relizable method of transportation. Some of the schools are a five-minute car ride, and some are a twenty-minute car ride one-way. If you need transportation to your site, you will either be assigned to carpool with another tutor who has a car, or you will be asked to ride the Chapel Hill bus. (Riding the bus is free.) If you are carpooling with another tutor, you should occasionally offer to help pay for gas.
What do I need to know about getting paid?
Tutors are paid at the S4 level, which is $11.80-$13.55 per hour. Your pay rate within that level is based on your previous experience and past job performance (if applicable). You will be paid for the time you spend tutoring, planning your tutoring sessions, and attending training sessions and meetings. You will not be paid for travel time.
