Students hone tutoring skills in Madison classrooms

Sophomore Angela Zuniga works with sixth-grade students at Lincoln Elementary School as part of a UW–Madison class.

One sweet moment gave Angela Zuniga a taste of the ineffable joy that can flow from teaching, a moment that poignantly showed how a university, through students like her, can translate itself into a smile and a helping hand.

Zuniga is one of 25 UW–Madison students enrolled in the School of Education course Curriculum and Instruction 375: Tutoring in the Schools. As part of her classwork she spends Monday mornings at Lincoln Elementary School tutoring minority students.

That sweet moment came when one of Zuniga’s students gave her the equivalent of a double-hug. First, he surprised her one day when he asked for help on spelling during recess, which he dearly loves. And then a little later Zuniga heard him telling some friends, with a note of pride in his voice, “Yeah, Miss Angela helped me with my spelling.”

For Zuniga, the episode confirmed what she knew from the start of the course: This Lincoln classroom is exactly where she should be. “After the first day at Lincoln,” she says, “I knew I couldn’t turn my back on these kids who need help.”

Tutoring in the Schools, taught by Professor Marianne Bloch, was first offered last fall, and 16 students are taking it again this semester, including Zuniga. The students mix lessons on how to tutor with experience tutoring minority students in Lincoln and Midvale schools.

Tutors work with the children during school hours, allowing teachers to interact with them. “Teachers tell us that the UW–Madison students are eager and reliable, which isn’t always true of volunteer tutors,” says Bloch.

“The teachers and students here are enthusiastic about the program,” says Mary Kay Johnson, an instructional-resource teacher at Midvale. “And one of the best things about it is the diversity of backgrounds and talents among the tutors.”

The UW–Madison course is a pilot program called SHAPE (Students Helping in the Advancement of Public Education), a name suggested by the tutors. Support comes from the Chancellor’s Office, the School of Education and its Department of Curriculum and Instruction, local schools and the Civil Rights Defense Coalition, an umbrella organization uniting UW–Madison students of diverse backgrounds. The program was formed after CRDC presented Chancellor David Ward with 17 proposals on increasing diversity at UW–Madison.

“One of our proposals sought to reduce gaps in graduation and academic performance levels between students of color and their white counterparts in Madison-area schools,” says Greg Maney, a sociology graduate student and member of CRDC. So he and others such as LaMarr Billups, special assistant to the chancellor for community relations, began meeting to bring SHAPE to fruition.

SHAPE has drawn the diverse UW–Madison students it was designed to attract. About half of them are students of color, and the male-female ratio is about 50-50. That gender balance has been appreciated at Lincoln and Midvale, since most elementary teachers are female.

Billups says plans are to expand the program next year to place SHAPE students in Cherokee Middle School, following some of the fifth-grade students now being tutored.

The program’s continued success stems partly from what Zuniga has discovered: “It takes just a little time from my day to make a huge difference in the lives of these children.”

For more information on SHAPE, call 263-4616 or e-mail sharonhenry@students.wisc.edu.