Problem
The middle school to which Alycia transferred didn’t provide rigorous instruction. Per Alycia, “I miss the work assigned at [my previous school]. It was more challenging”. Still, Alycia understood and openly admitted that her lack of diligence contributed to her less-than-stellar academic showing. She mentioned that her Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) score dipped because she’d stopped reading as often as she’d used to read.
January 2015, Andrea Robinson, Alycia’s grandmother, contacted me after being referred by a previous customer. The initial intention was for Alycia to prepare for the HSPT, but personal changes required the family to reconsider private school attendance. Still, the Robinson-Gross crew wanted help for Alycia to ensure smoother transition into high school. She’d seriously considered becoming a dentist. The tactile aspect of science appealed to her, but she knew she needed to improve her mathematic competency to fully understand dentistry and realize her dream of establishing a successful dental practice.
The Process
January 6, 2015, we met at Oakland Public Library for her diagnostic session; we held our first study session January 13, 2015. Because Alycia was the most behind in math, we started filling gaps there, first, working to improve her understanding of integers and how to manipulate them. focused on numerical understanding. Later, we folded prescriptive writing conventions into Alycia’s program — along with prescriptive grammar.
During the mid-term of her first freshperson semester, I called for a conference between Alycia, her biology teacher, her mother, and me. It was determined that Alycia wasn’t working up to her full potential. Although she completed most of her assignments, the quality of her work was subpar. For this reason, we shifted from focusing, strictly, on academics to adding general coworking and accountability to her regimen (though that’s not what we’d called it at the time. Honestly, we had no name for it; we just knew that Alycia needed a little help staying on top her assignments, putting more effort into understanding content, and allowing that understanding to manifest in her assignments.
Results
June 2016 – After working with me twice weekly, Alycia finished the year with passing grades in English language arts, algebra, biology, chemistry, and Spanish.
- Improved numerical understanding
- Improved focus and executive functioning
- Fewer incomplete assignments
My granddaughter has benefitted greatly from the loving (but firm) support Kenisha has given her. I am grateful for Kenisha’s attention to detail and excellent follow-up, which helped my granddaughter organize her work and believe in herself.”
-Margot Gross, Grandmother of Alycia Robinson-Gross