About being a volunteer tutor

As former tutors, we have personally seen the massive unfair advantage 1-1 instruction and mastery learning can make in a child’s education. With the pandemic, the education gap has grown larger than ever as those who can afford tutoring are taking advantage of it to get ahead, and those who can’t are left behind, often missing out entirely on learning when they miss key concepts required for moving forward with their learning. It is our mission to close this gap by providing the highest quality free tutoring available to any student who needs it.

Our mastery learning tutoring program is designed to give students the opportunity to get field experience teaching and provide an ideal field work experience. We also have many opportunities for leadership within the organization. Our most dedicated tutors can move into tutor training roles and get referred for paid teaching opportunities. We collect feedback after every tutoring session to help us write glowing reviews for our tutors. We are here to support our tutoring family every step of the way in reaching their academic, career and philanthropic aspirations.

Through your participating in Mastery Learning Hour, you will develop leadership skills as you:

a. Address a pressing problem (with remote learning, K-12 students who can not afford tutoring are disadvantaged in learning. By providing them with access, we help democratize education)

b. Use your strengths to connect with fellow students in a collaborative, enriching manner. (Tutors have opportunities to collaborate with others on slack to develop and improve the program)

c. Demonstrate and deploy your resources as you encourage students to gain this experience. (Tutors perform outreach to their campus and local schools in a creative manner)

d. Solve the problem in an innovative fashion, substantively developing your leadership, teambuilding, professionalism and collaborative skills.

Tutor Responsibilities

Time commitment: At least 2 hours a week for one semester

• Be available at least once a week for two hours to tutor students on zoom (if there is a surplus of tutors, students will help do research and write content for our blog)

• Review training materials on teaching techniques, anti-bias, communicating with children and online teaching.

• Fill out a feedback form after every sessions

• Communicate parent and student concerns / comments back to Mastery Learning staff in a timely manner

• Attend trainings once a month on teaching and communication techniques

Students looking to play a bigger role in the program can apply to be campus representatives, help with outreach to local K12 schools and recruit tutors on their campus.

Campus Representative Responsibilities

Time commitment: 3-4 hours a week

Tutors interested in playing a bigger role in the program can apply to be campus rep. The minimum requirement is 3-4 hours/week (2 hours of tutoring and 1-2 hour of outreach)

• Weekly post about specific action to publicize Mastery Learning tutoring opportunities in SLACK group (must be completed by Friday 5 pm PST)

  • Post should also include any insightful comments (i.e., unexpected difficulties or triumphs)

• Recruit and vet tutors to join the program

• Attend a monthly strategy session with the tutoring coordinator

• Keep Mastery Learning staff up to date about pertinent campus events so the staff staff is able to respond accordingly

• Connect with campus clubs, advisors and faculty who work with students who could be prospective tutors.

Campus Representative Incentives

• Receive free access to training seminars on communication, teaching strategies and anti-bias education. 

• Access to database of tutors for networking and advice 

• Opportunity to recruit reps from other campuses (friends from high school, others you know) and to teach them how to do it.

• Invitation to free Zoom-based advising meetings for campus reps

Do you qualify? 

• You have at least 1 year of experience teaching or caring for children (can be as a babysitter, tutor or summer camp counselor)

• You are currently enrolled in, or have graduated from an accredited college, university or high school or are a homeschooler over the age of 14 and can provide a referral from a teacher or parent.

• You have access to fast internet (we suggest a minimum of 3Mbps for both upload and download speeds)

• You have a passionate interest in democratizing education

• You’re committed to examining your own bias in order to be an effective and fair teacher to students from different cultures and backgrounds than yours.

• You enjoy working with children in child-centered, empathic approach. 

• You are curious about improving your teaching skills. 

• You can provide at least one parent and one academic reference

• You pass a full criminal background check. 

• You have an avid interest in helping provide feedback and ideas to help develop a new and growing program

• You have 1.5-2 hours a week available to consistently devote to the program

• You love to learn! 

If this describes you, please mention that you’d like to be a campus rep in your application.