Academic Coach vs. Tutor
We are often asked to distinguish between academic coaching and tutoring, so here is an explanation.
Your student is struggling to succeed in school. Should you hire an academic tutor or an academic coach? What’s the difference between the two? While both tutors and coaches can be teachers with plenty of experience, there are differences between the two services they provide. Tutoring tends to focus on satisfying an immediate need, usually pertaining to specific subject content or assignment. If your student is struggling to master content in a statistics course, a tutor would be a good fit. Tutors are not necessarily trained to help students who have learning disabilities, ADHD, or other diagnoses that impact their academic success. If your child does have a formal diagnosis, or is struggling to succeed in school, an academic coach may be better suited to help.
Coaches work with students to establish foundational skills upon which they can build and apply across the course of their academic careers and across multiple subject areas. They customize their approach to help students with organizational and time management skills, self-advocacy and accountability, test-taking and study skills, among others. Their work with the student tends to be comprehensive in nature and includes the use of collaboration with teachers and parents to further support the student’s success. Furthermore, coaches can advise parents about other resources including but not limited to psychoeducational evaluations, IEP and 504 accommodations, mental health providers, and other resources.
