The Evolution of Tutor to Learning Specialist

“What’s in a name?” The famous question from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet resonates when thinking about the titles of some of Rectory’s most valued and beloved educators throughout the School’s 100-year history. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” the poem continues. Is it also true that which we call a tutor or learning specialist would be as valued and beloved, regardless of the title? While the answer to this question is a resounding YES, a name or title can be an integral aspect of how a person or role is perceived by others, as we also discovered in that fateful play with the Montagues and Capulets.

So why make a formal change to the title of Rectory’s one-to-one teachers? Tutors and their tutees (the titles used in most recent years) develop unique bonds that last far longer than the time they sit side-by-side working together. The answer lies in celebrating the overwhelming value of the people in this role and recognizing Rectory’s expertise in the field of individualized instruction and its evolution over the years.

School Administrator and Archivist Lisa Levesque has been at Rectory School for nearly three decades. She has filled many roles, including Director of Individualized Instruction, in her time at Rectory and her most recent, archivist, signifies her expertise in all things Rectory. “Rectory’s academic program has always been predicated upon the individual,” Mrs. Levesque said. “In my observation, for the specialized work they did, the name of the teacher in the [one-to-one] program has changed throughout history based on what that program looked like--and the way it looked was based on the needs of the students at that time.” 

What began in the late 1920s-early 1930s with the Remedial Reading Program has grown and expanded over the years to Rectory’s current Learning Services Program. Learning Services encompasses the School’s signature Individualized Instruction Program (IIP); arrangement for accommodations on standardized and classroom tests; coordination of diagnostic evaluations and student support services, such as neuropsychological testing or speech therapy; faculty training on learning needs and differentiation of instruction and assessments; teaching materials and professional development library; collaboration with the Secondary School Placement Office; and partnering with school districts for IEPs and 504 Plans.

Rectory’s Learning Services is a primary reason parents choose Rectory because they believe it is essential to supporting their children academically. “Our 21st-century learning model requires us to make sure everything is in line,” said Director of Learning Services Rebecca Pagitt-Mungai. “It’s important to look outside to see what other schools are doing. When [Director of Academics] Lisa Hart and I went on school tours, we didn’t find any other ‘tutors’ in those schools. When we visited their learning services departments, it was their ‘learning specialist’ or ‘whatever program name teacher.’” 

“I think it speaks to a level of professionalism that always existed in IIP,” Mrs. Pagitt-Mungai continues. “I think, too, when you think of tutoring, what comes to mind is something that happens outside or after school. ‘Learning Specialist’ has a different tone to it. We’re talking about people who have decades of experience in the classroom and in their fields. These people are the fabric of our school. They have dedicated their lives to teaching. They have master’s degrees in special education or certifications in Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, TESOL... They are specialists--they aren’t just trying to pick up odd hours helping a kid with homework after school.”

 A Brief History of Rectory’s Signature Program and Its Instructors 

In her article entitled, “Rectory And Remedial Learning: Three Snapshots From 1925 To 1939,” which first appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of The Rectory News, Mrs. Levesque wrote about the origins of Rectory’s one-to-one program, and specifically about how the program began under Elizabeth Bigelow’s oversight. 

During a recent conversation, Mrs. Levesque expounded on the information within the article. “Those early years were academically shaped by Frank and Mabel Bigelow’s (Rectory’s founders) eldest daughter, Elizabeth Bigelow,” said Mrs. Levesque. “Her interest was in reading and specifically those students who had difficulty reading. Elizabeth Bigelow created the Remedial Reading Program. In fact, one of her titles was Head of Remedial Reading.” According to Mrs. Levesque, this was the beginning of what would become Rectory’s signature program. 

During the 1940s, the Bigelows worked with Dr. and Mrs. Orton, and by the 1950s Rectory’s remedial reading efforts were guided by Page and Laura Sharp (renowned experts in the field of language disabilities). Under the Sharps, the program was known as Language Re-training or English Language Training. Mrs. Levesque continues, “By 1961, Rectory had divided its approach to reading into two general categories, remedial and developmental. A new course in Developmental Reading, designed to build up a student’s reading speed and comprehension, was added to the academic program. However, it is the remedial program, the Language Training Program, that we most closely associate as being the forerunner of what is now our Learning Services program. Teachers in that program worked with students who had difficulty in the area that we think of as dyslexia--taking the kinesthetic, visual, auditory approach to teaching children how to break down and associate sounds with letters. I remember this still being the name of the program in the 1970s and into the 1980s. During those times, the people who were teaching those courses were called ‘teachers’ or they were called ‘Language Retraining teachers.’”

According to Mrs. Levesque, it was in the time that Carole Gooder was leading this program (1980s-early/mid 1990s), that the program was again adapted to the needs of the Rectory student. “In addition to focusing on dyslexia, the needs of Rectory students, and, of course, the needs of all middle school students, were basic organizational and study skills,” explains Mrs. Levesque. 

It was Carole Gooder who broadened the program’s name from Language Training to Individualized Instruction. It’s also in that time period that the terms tutoring and tutors became prevalent. “If you think about it,” said Mrs. Levesque, “organizational and study skills are what comes to mind when you think of a tutor. There was still the specialization of working with students who needed language remediation, but there was also this broader service for all students and, in particular, students who really needed the basic academic skills that a typical middle school student needs.” 

Ironically, from the mid-1990s-2000s, the name for the teachers who were working with students in Rectory’s Individualized Instruction Program was IIP Specialists. “The whole intent of that was to get away from the word tutor,” Mrs. Levesque said, “because tutor as it was understood generally did not portray the specialized work with nor the individualized curricula that was being created for each student. Tutor and tutoring conveyed that a student needed help with homework.” As an educational psychologist with degrees in that area, Mrs. Levesque knew they were doing more than that. 

IIP specialists and their students wore large lapel buttons emblazoned with IIPer or IIPee. It was a school moniker for people involved in the program. “During that time the department was known for matching IIPee’s needs with IIPer’s strengths. If one of the IIP specialists had a particular knowledge working with students with ADHD or written expression, for example, there was a carefully selected match between what the child’s diagnosis or needs were and the strengths of the IIPer. Part of the IIPer and IIPee campaign was to change the vernacular within the school. People would say, ‘Oh, they’re just tutors,’ when these teachers typically held advanced degrees or had specialized training. But it was hard to get rid of the word tutor because it was so easy to use,” said Mrs. Levesque. 

Throughout Rectory’s history, as the needs of the student body changed, so did the focus and name of the program change--and the titles of the adults involved in the program. “If I were to take a step back and look at what is happening with the program now under Mrs. Mungai’s leadership, it makes perfect sense to move to the title of ‘Learning Specialist,’” said Mrs. Levesque. “Even though in the 1990s and 2000s, we did work with occupational and speech therapists and other schools, the services were arranged for specific children; it wasn’t a part of our regular school program. Today, and a lot of this has to do with changes in federal law in education, Mrs. Mungai works much more closely with other schools and the IEP process. IIP is one program within all of the different learning services that Rectory offers. I really appreciate Mrs. Mungai. All of the things we need to move forward with, she’s doing.”

Titles Have Changed But The Heart Remains

“Every alumnus who comes back and talks about their tutor talks about their compassion, warmth, and engagement,” said Mrs. Pagitt-Mungai. “They talk about their tutor being an advocate, someone who believed in them, someone who put them back on track. Those are still qualities that I attribute to the Learning Specialist.” 

Mrs. Pagitt-Mungai said that today’s program has become more goal-oriented and the students are more involved in reaching their learning goals. Together, students and their learning specialist review their learning goals every term and reflect on the students’ progress. “Maybe I’m putting more emphasis on the students being more active participants and playing a role in charting his or her own course,” said Mrs. Pagitt-Mungai. “We’ve always had wonderful communication between classroom teachers and learning specialists. We may have formalized it a little more with accommodations, files, and documentation so the learning specialists and students have a clear role in designing for their work in a classroom setting. This is something that previously I would oversee, but there is much more autonomy and input from the student who is actually benefiting.” 

The main ingredient in the success of the program has been, and always will be, the people. “I always say that I have such an amazing team of people who really go above and beyond,” said Mrs. Pagitt-Mungai. “They cheer from the sidelines. There’s no limelight there. They are constantly working behind the curtain getting their students ready for their opening act. I think it takes a special kind of human being to be so happy and thrilled at the success of another individual. To know you have a hand in it but you’re not seeking the accolades or praise that goes with it...to want the other person to experience all of the success. I think that’s pretty cool.” 

Pretty cool indeed!