Brilliance

Academy is a for-profit, onsite tutoring provider offering small group tutoring to students in language arts (reading and writing), and mathematics to grades K- 12. Students have been successfully learning in our program for over three years, and have significantly improved their standardized testing and in-class scores. At Brilliance Academy we use a unique two-part approach to ensure that students are benefiting from our curriculumone that is both individualized and grade-level aligned. The program we use is designed by Brilliance Academy and aligned with state and national standards. Additionally, our curriculum has been endorsed by the National Tutoring Association. Brilliance Academy understands that each student is different. Students operate not only on varied academic levels, but they also learn through a variety of modalities; this is why we believe it is important not only to diagnose students academically, but also to assess their learning preferences. Our programming is designed with both of these elements in mind. Each student is given their very own curriculum based on their needs as outlined by the results of their initial standardized assessment. This means that if a student is strong in one area yet weak in another, they will receive a curriculum that is tailored to those needs. The content of our curriculum is based upon state standards, and our method of delivery is rooted in the ideology of success of small class size. The basis our curricula implementation is Blooms Taxonomy (Benjamin S. Bloom; Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston MA 1984, revised by Pearson Education). Our philosophy of small class size as an effective theory of instruction is reflected in the Tennessee Class Size Experiment that follows the effects of small class size on younger students for a period of four years. This long term and often referred to study states, class size effects persist for at least 5 years and remain large enough to be important for educational policy. Thus, small classes in early grades appear to have lasting benefits (Special Issue: Class Size: Issues and New Findings; Summer 1999, pp 127-142). Often students can become frustrated, unmotivated or disenchanted if they find the work to be too difficult or too easy. This flexible programming allows us to offer students a chance to work on their level, whatever it may be, and find success. For example, if the Basic Achievement Skills Inventory (our standardized test created by the premier testing developers, Pearson Vue) indicates that a child is below average on prefixes, suffixes and prepositions and above average on nouns, verbs and sentence structure, it gives us this itemized report. From this report the data is calculated by an additional software component that we use to align the students needs with the right activities and lessons. Once all data has been collected for both reading and math, individualized curriculum is created for each student. The individualized curriculum component is an efficient way to bring students up to grade level or to challenge them to excel further. For example, if a student is in the eighth grade and is struggling with multiplication, they may feel frustrated because their grade-level expectations demand that they divide fractions. This can be potentially overwhelming to the student. They must first solidify their understanding of basic multiplication to really feel comfortable and excel in division of fractions. The individualized component of our programming provides the student with lessons and activities for skill building and knowledge acquisition. 5940 West Touhy Niles, Illinois 60714 phone (847)559-7464 fax (866)782-6769

 Our tutors are chosen first and foremost for their ability to effectively communicate information and positively relate to our students. All of our tutors are certified teachers who must also be certified by the National Tutor Association (NTA). Additional quality training is provided by Brilliance Academy through annual training and ongoing tri-annual workshops. The Content Based Projects bring an interactive dimension to the Brilliance Academy program. Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Writing and Test Taking Skills will be presented through the Content Based Projects. Students learn using auditory, kinesthetic and visual modalities, making learning fun and accessible to all students. The curriculum is designed to be functionally scripted, yet flexible to the tutor and student. Each project binder includes instructions, lesson plans, all learning materials, assessments, and the final tutor survey. The progression of lessons is designed with the student in mind. Expectations are challenging, yet realistic and function on a tiered design. Projects focus on results and students begin with a diagnostic test and conclude with an assessment. Each child will improve and make progress in five sessions. Objectives are clear and achievable. Tutors will receive up to ten projects per year for their classes and can expect to see results on a consistent basis. Once a students learning goals are met and lessons fully completed, they are administered an exit assessment to determine the progress they have made throughout the program. Past results have shown that students who attend classes regularly and are active participants should demonstrate somewhere between a 20 to 50 percent increase in student achievement.

5940 West Touhy

Niles, Illinois 60714

phone (847)559-7464

fax (866)782-6769