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Helping Others Better: Student Tutors Earn International Certification

Last week, language and writing tutors from Brigham Young University–Hawaii’s Reading/Writing Center and the EIL Tutor Program participated in a ceremony awarding them International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC) certificates from the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). This is the first time BYU­–Hawaii EIL tutors have earned ITTPC certification; Reading/Writing Center tutors have been earning this certification since 1996. The ITTPC program run by the CRLA certifies postsecondary educational institutional tutoring programs which enables these programs to offer the credential to their qualifying tutors.

At BYU–Hawaii, the Reading/Writing Center, housed in the English department, and the EIL Tutoring Program, housed in the English Language Teaching and Learning (ELT) department, have been able to grant tutor certification to their student tutors after they fulfill certain professional tutor-training program requirements. Students selected or hired for each program must demonstrate entry-level required tutoring skills for the position and maintain a grade of “A” or “B” in the subject content being tutored or document experience equivalent to the grade requirement. Following the hiring process, the tutors work through a training program, which includes Level 1 Certification, Level 2 Advanced Certification, and Level 3 Master Certification.

As part of the assessment process, the Reading/Writing Center and the EIL Tutoring Program also require tutors to complete a project at each level related to their tutoring work. Projects are usually based on resources to help with tutoring, such as creating tutor handbooks, topic lists for speaking practice, training videos, or annotated lists of online websites for tutoring activities, etc.

“It was a lot of work to gain CRLA ITTPC accreditation,” says Ellen Bunker, ELT department chair. “We are very pleased that our tutors have the opportunity to earn this certification.”

The Reading/Writing Center and EIL tutors who received their CRLA ITTPC certificates last week are Paul Bacera (Level 1), Kierah Thurgood (Level 1), Sydney McCarrey (Level 1), Shemaina Miller (Levels 1-2), Erin Ram (Level 3), and Elizabeth Huffaker (Levels 1-3).

“We appreciate all of the hard work and dedication our peer tutors demonstrate in their efforts to help our EIL students with their academic English language skills,” says Amanda Wallace, supervisor of the EIL Tutor Program. “We extend our congratulations to those tutors who have worked consistently to a high standard to earn their tutoring certification.”

For more information about CRLA’s ITTPC Certificates, click here.

To learn more about BYU–Hawaii's Reading/Writing Center, visit http://readingwritingcenter.byuh.edu/.

To learn more about the EIL Tutoring Program, visit http://tesol.byuh.edu/.

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