Prospective Tutors
This information is designed to help you understand how the program works, what your commitment would be, etc. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY!!! Doing so will help you decide if this program is right for you. You will, of course, get additional orientation about the program before you start to work. But the more you know about the program beforehand, they better your chance of qualifying for one of these jobs.
Details of NYU's America Reads and Counts Program
- All AR/AC tutoring is done in New York City public school classrooms during the school day (roughly 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) and the school week Monday - Friday. There is some work in afterschool programs (3:00 - 5:00 pm), but there is no work on weekends or evenings.
- The schools are all in Manhattan Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Most schools close to the NYU campus. You can see where all the schools are by going to our website, but you may not request a specific school. You must go where you are assigned.
- We will give you Orientation and Training before you are sent to a school.
- When we send you to a school the school principal will assign you to a classroom teacher (or teachers) to work with.
- Working with your classroom teacher, you can make your own schedule to accommodate your NYU class schedule. That is, you can work at any times that suit you and your teacher, within these parameters: a). You must work a minimum of 6 hours a week, during the school day (8:30 - 3:00). We do not know what schools have after-school programs, and we cannot take into consideration extra hours worked in after-school when hiring you. b) You must work on at least 2 days of the week c) You must work in blocks of no less than 2 hours. d)No work on Fridays may begin after 12:00 noon, although you may continue working on Friday afternoon if you begin before noon. There is no daily maximum. You can work as many hours in a day as you have available and your teacher/school will agree. There is a weekly maximum of twenty hours. d) Once you agree on a schedule, we expect you to keep that schedule.
- Your work will always be done in the presence of, and under the direction and supervision of, a classroom teacher or other school employee. Your work will vary--you may, at times, work one-on-one with a student; you may work with small groups; you may work with large groups. Your work will be academic in nature. Although you may be asked to perform occasional clerical or housekeeping tasks (making copies, straightening the room, etc.) the great majority of your time will be helping students with their academic needs. If a teacher is asking you to do things that are not academic in nature, we will assist you in correcting that situation.
- You are allowed to take NYU holidays, or to take time off around exam time, or if you're sick, have a big test coming up, etc. However, we expect you to inform your teacher beforehand about your expected absence.
- You are paid for the time you do work with children, either in the classroom, in the lunchroom or on the playground, or the time you spend with your teacher or other teachers in your school receiving training, planning lessons, etc. The teacher will supervise your work, tell you what to do, which students to work with, etc. You will do a variety of things: work one-on-one with children; work with small and large groups, etc. You do not need any specialized training.
- You are not paid for travel time (and you need to count on a half-hour each way) and are not paid for lunch or break time that is not spent in academic work with teachers or students.
- Many schools have after-school programs from 3 - 5, although not every school has them every day. Any day you are working in the school at 3 o'clock, and the school has an afterschool program, you can continue to work in it. However, to qualify for this privilege, you must have 6 hours a week during the regular school day in your schedule. You may not complete your 6 hour schedule by adding 3-5 work blocks on days you are not otherwise in the school at 3.
- You will be paid $10 per hour (undergraduates) and $12 per hour (graduate students) for work in Manhattan schools below 100th Street; $12 per hour (undergraduates) and $14 per hour (graduate students) for work in Brooklyn schools, in Manhattan above 100th Street, or the Bronx. You will be paid every 2 weeks based on a timesheet you submit that is verified by your cooperating teacher.
- If you are a graduate student, you may be asked to send us some brief observations about how things are going in your school. And there may be an optional meeting or two for you to attend. If we want you to submit observations or attend a meeting, we will let you know.
- Your pay is your own; it is not applied to your tuition, etc. You get money to do with what you choose. It is taxable; how much tax is withheld is a completely individual calculation, based on number of dependents, etc. Social Security is not withheld (except during the summer if you're not enrolled at NYU.)
- You can begin work shortly after you are oriented. You can work until you exhaust your federal work study allowance. The average annual FWS allowance at NYU is $3500; this would allow you to work 10 hours a week at $10 per hour for 35 weeks. For most people, this means you will have the job for the entire year. However, if you work more (as many graduate students do) you could earn the full amount sooner; if you work less, you may not earn all of your FWS.
- You will stay at the same school for both semesters (or until you run out of money.) You can request a different school in subsequent years (but few tutors do so.) You can work in this program as long as you are an NYU student with a federal work-study allotment and your work is satisfactory.
What does this mean for now?
- Make sure you have a Federal Work Study allotment. You can check this with the Office of Financial Aid.
- Look at your schedule and see if you have time to participate in the program. There is a work schedule on the website that you can look at to see how scheduling is done. Remember to leave 30 minutes on each side for travel. So if you have a class that ends at 10 and another that begins at 12, don't plan to work for America Reads and Counts from 10 - 12 on that day; in reality, you can only plan on 10:30 - 11:30, so that would not be a permissible 2 hour block.
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions.
If you have other specific questions that you cannot find answered here, send them to us at areads@nyu.edu