Academic Coach vs. Tutor: The Ultimate Guide

Are you in your mid-30’s?

If you ever find yourself at a hoppin’ New Years’ Eve Party, then take a look around at the 100 people jammed in that sweaty venue. Guess what?

The stats bear out that only 40 of them graduated from college. They might’ve risen due to continuing education, but it wouldn’t have moved the needle very far.

And the narrative hasn’t changed, with dropout rates staying stubbornly high. Unfortunately, with the rising tech revolution, the importance of degrees isn’t likely to fade. How can your child stay ahead of the curve? A tutor or an academic coach can help nurture your child’s development into an ace student, and citizen.

But what are the differences between the two? And which one is best for your child?

Let’s break out those books, dish out some coffee, and dive into this ultimate guide on an academic coach vs. a tutor.

What is an Academic Coach?

Test failure rates are quite often not the result of low intellectual ability. The power of motivation, or belief in oneself, can be the greatest factor in boosting scores and in getting results. This applies not only in school but in the office space. The role of an academic coach is this:

To bring out the best in your child.

It’s based on a foundational relationship of trust between the student and the coach, which can be fostered over years. And so, the coach uses a more intensive process, that emphasizes “soft” skills, which are those valuable life skills that are crucial to success.

• To be persistent
• To be responsible
• To be independent

Is your child mired in destructive ways? Are there too many distractions in their life? Then an academic coach can help them block out that noise, and cut through the haze — allowing them to reach their goal.

What is a Tutor?

If your child is stuck on a concept, creating nightmares of stress, then a tutor could be the perfect, specialized solution.

Tutors are much more focused, and zero in on key academic concepts, to help your child get past that hurdle.

But the root causes of their nightmares aren’t necessarily the concern of a tutor. While motivation is a key aspect of being an effective tutor, that’s not their trade.

Basic Approaches

The strategy an academic coach, or a tutor, uses depends on the end-game. In short, what is their goal? So, let’s crack open the book on the various approaches that the two types will employ when your child meets them.

Academic Coach

The magic and beauty academic coaching reflects in the intricate and intensive process, which tackles the real issues that are driving the low success your child is having — in school, or in life.

In this sense, an academic coach borders on the realm of psychology.

The method of an academic coach is to address the internal and external walls that are impeding your child’s progress, through powerful study strategies, razor-sharp test-taking methods, all while boosting his/her’s time management skills so that your child will never fall off into that dark space again.

Tutor

These are usually subject experts in the class that they’re drowning in. That stress of formulas and concepts is something that tutors are equipped to destroy.

You could be the most hardcore study addict in the world, the most committed student, dedicated to the craft of the textbook. But sometimes, no matter how skilled, certain concepts are beyond us. Tutors are assassins, who are sent in to slice up confusion about a specific topic, to help the student in their understanding.

The onus for the student’s improvement is shifted off of them, and unto the tutor and the teachers.

What a Typical Session May Look Like

You have now settled on the type of assistance that your child needs. So, what can your child expect when he/she meets his/her coach or tutor?

What an Academic Coaching Session Looks Like

Session length can fluctuate, but most academic tutors are paid hourly, so take that into account when scheduling out your sessions with your coach.

But all of them start the same way — with building a positive relationship. The session starts with building rapport so that there is a solid foundation to move forward with. The key to improving is the ability to make mistakes, which freezes many students in their place. Goals will be discussed because a finish line must be visualized.

Through observation and analysis, the coach explores how the student views himself/herself. This lays the groundwork for future sessions.

What a Tutoring Session Looks Like

Supporting the students is the core pillar of a tutoring session, which starts with crafting an agenda. When faced with a complicated concept that fogs the brain, tutors can break up the concept into a mini-agenda, that breaks apart the seemingly impossible task into smaller more manageable tasks.

Next, might come reflection. We like to hide from our failures, but for the tutor, it’s important to understand where the student is in their journey.

But you can’t only know where you are or have been, but where you are going. For this, a goal for the session must be set in stone. Humans love attaining things, and it is a powerful tool that motivates students as they work on course content.

Now, with the session over, and the dust has settled, reflection is in order. It’s powerful for reinforcement of concepts, and is a key part of ending a tutoring session.

Types of Students Who Could Benefit

The wonders of Academic Coaching, much like tutoring, are not limited to any demographic. That being said, some students are at greater risk than others — from low-income families who lack access to resources, to students in foster homes.

But one thing will always be true.

The pains and stresses of daily life are something universal to all demographics.

These stresses could be under different categories.

Internal

These are issues that your child creates alone, and are the harbinger of issues that are much harder to root out. We all have some shade of these problems, just some people are defined more strongly by them.

They could run the gamut of:

• Procrastination and poor time management
• A pursuit of perfectionism that breeds unrealistic expectations
• The negative perception of obstacles as “problems” and not “opportunities”
• Inability to look after themselves

Does effective time management seem like an unattainable holy grail for your child? Check out some powerful strategies here!

External

These issues rear their ugly head when forces from outside your control start to weigh down on you. Oftentimes, these can be the direct result of nagging internal stressors, where you impose external issues onto yourself.

After all, we all remember that scolding our mother gave us when we got locked behind our bedroom doors for a day, due to some charade we pulled:

“You did this to yourself!” she would always shrill out.

Whatever the case, we can get shut into the world of external stress due to these sources — although there are more:

Life Changes

Moving can uproot a child’s foundation, throwing their world into chaos.

School

The dark horizon of assessment exams, or the prick of a nagging subject, can be enough to send a youth whirling into a stress spiral.

Relationship Worries

Social acceptance is chased by most, if not all children. Lack of acceptance can cause them to retreat into a shell.

Work

Long hours can compound the expectation to meet school deadlines.

And so, depending on the hurdle your student is trying to jump over, there’s one key question that you need to ask before you consider choosing between a tutor or a coach.

Is your student suffering under the weight of an internal, or external issue?

Why a Tutor Could Be the Right Solution

(As you pour into this section, think about if it’s an internal dilemma or an external one that calls for a tutor’s services)

Is your student struggling with a specific subject, or with school in general? Perhaps it is just a core concept that has them bangin’ their heads against their desks?

Like Batman’s bat symbol beaming bright above Gotham, that job calls for a tutor to swoop in. Tutors are a great option to find the missing piece of the puzzle that sent your student off track.

It could be an AP student, previously the gem of the school, who meets an unexpected challenge in AP Physics. With the stresses of teenage life, subject issues can often be compounded.

But while the angst bubbling inside of their teenage hearts can be a factor, it’s often the trials of the textbook that have them piling up sleepless nights, for them, and you.

Are you still having doubts nip at the back of your mind?

Read on here for more of the benefits that a tutor can bestow upon your child!

Why an Academic Coach Could Be The Right Solution

“Doing well in college prep courses and achieving high grades in high school isn’t enough,” warned David T. Conley, a professor at the University of Oregon. His words ring true.

With the soaring college dropout rate, there is another piece to the success puzzle that many students leave high school without. And when troubles inevitably smack them in their dorm room sanctuaries, many of them fold under the pressure.

Mr. Conley has seen it far too often.

“While critical thinking and comprehension skills are essential for any college course, it’s also important that students have the ability to effectively manage their time,” he said.

If your child finds himself or herself with great talent and ability but lacks the motivation, or ability to control the stress factors that swirl around them, then academic coaching services can provide the perfect guidance and direction.

Duration of Services

The length of time that you hire out a tutor or an academic coach is extremely fluid, and entirely dependent on the problem plaguing your student, the resources you can commit, and your schedule.

Length of Tutoring Services

It is not uncommon to see a session go past 1 hour, or even push 2 hours. But there are a few variables that can play into the decision:

• Availability
• Cost
• Tutor-Student Relationship

So session length is dependent on your, and your child’s, schedule, the rate of the tutor, but it also hinges on the relationship the child has with the tutor.

If there is a good connection, then a lot can get done in one hour. If not, then you might need to start “burning the midnight oil”. Whatever the case, it all hinges on what the goal of the sessions is.

Is your child seeking to conquer one core concept, or triumph over a unit-length of work? That will help you decide how much ground you will need to cover.

Length of Academic Coaching Services

In much the same way, the length and frequency of your sessions will ride on how much time you can commit, the cost, and the coach=student relationship.

However, since an academic coach dives into the internal issues eating away at the confidence of your child, then the goals might be a little more abstract than the goals given by a tutor.

Many of the outcomes here will be tailored towards their personal development, which is less concrete than “finishing chapter 10”. Due to this reason, many parents find their students building a years-long relationship with their coach, built throughout their many sessions together.

The important thing here is consistency — How important?

Studies have found that students with frequent sessions are 15 times more likely to succeed. If that pattern is absent, then old habits can rear their ugly heads.

With both methods, one hour is acceptable, with frequent sessions for reinforcement.

Give Them the Tools

Don’t let your child be the next sobering statistic in the dismal rate of college dropouts. Your child can succeed, even in the face of the environmental, and personal factors, that envelop them. Oftentimes, all it takes is a little guiding hand. An academic coach, or a tutor, can be just that for your child.

Sign-up for our world-class services, so that your child rises above the statistics, and becomes what you always knew they could become.