Due to the declining birth rate in recent years, the number of students enrolled each year has significantly decreased. Therefore, during the enrollment season, every tutoring center strives to conduct extensive promotions while also working hard to maintain the retention rate of existing students. Many teachers feel anxious at the end of the term and often wonder why, despite their good teaching quality, most parents are satisfied with the teaching effectiveness, and the interaction between teachers and students is harmonious, a few students are unwilling to continue their studies. Below, we summarize some common reasons for student attrition and provide relevant suggestions to help educators and teachers face and resolve similar situations.
There are numerous factors that can cause student attrition. Operators need to establish a good reputation in teaching while also caring about the teachers' working conditions and actively communicating with parents. When noticing student attrition, it is crucial to confront the problem and identify potential causes to avoid recurrence. A well-managed tutoring center can be felt by both parents and students!
Students often discontinue their tutoring for the following reasons:
In addition to the above reasons, there are also issues attributable to the tutoring centers themselves, described as follows:
What causes student attrition? Here are some common reasons:
Generally, high turnover rates among teachers have always been a concern for tutoring center operators, and parents often feel troubled when different teachers are assigned each term. For parents, if a teacher change is due to their child's advancement, they can generally accept it. However, if it is due to an unforeseen departure of the teacher, many parents may find it unacceptable. Why is there a high turnover rate among tutoring center teachers? This can also lead to students not continuing their studies. First, many tutoring centers hire part-time teachers, making it difficult to keep track of the teachers' status, thus also complicating the monitoring of teaching quality. When parents notice frequent teacher changes, and the performance of the new teacher does not match that of the previous teacher, it often leads to doubts about the management of the tutoring center, prompting them to consider switching to another center.
Parents send their children to tutoring centers hoping to improve their school performance. Therefore, if a child's academic performance does not show significant improvement, parents will naturally question the quality of the teacher's instruction. Furthermore, if teachers do not maintain close contact with parents to provide updates on students' learning progress, once a learning issue arises, parents are likely to transfer their children to another tutoring center without any warning. Even if there is a good rapport between teachers and students, it may not be enough to motivate parents to continue enrollment.
Many parents hold high expectations for tutoring centers, believing that sending their children to classes will result in significant learning outcomes. However, sometimes tutoring centers fail to clearly explain their teaching methods and focuses during enrollment, leading to a discrepancy in parents' understanding of the tutoring center. For example, many parents send their children to an English tutoring center that emphasizes oral skills but find that their grammar has not significantly improved. In such situations, parents are likely to question the teacher's quality and switch to another tutoring center. For teachers, delivering lessons and interacting with students is often not difficult, but understanding and meeting parents' expectations for the tutoring center and their children is more challenging.
A good interaction between teachers and students is one of the important factors affecting student retention. In addition to considering the tutoring center's curriculum, many parents respect their children's preferences for the center they wish to attend. The quality of interaction can be observed from the number of students participating in school events. Therefore, if a school event shows low student participation, teachers should timely inquire and understand the reasons for students' reluctance to participate to make early adjustments in teaching. Today's students have a strong sense of self, and if teachers still use traditional methods and attitudes to address students (e.g., using critical comments to judge students), most students may reject the lessons.
From May to August each year, tutoring centers often pull out all the stops to launch various enrollment advertisements, hoping to enroll as many students as possible in the shortest time. Various promotional tactics are employed, with the most common being price-cutting strategies. In this economic downturn, the amount of tuition plays a decisive role, and such situations often occur in community-based tutoring centers. For example, some centers offer gifts or talent classes for enrolling in certain courses to influence parents' decisions. Therefore, how to encourage parents to continue their child's studies at the original tutoring center amid multiple enticing offers is a challenge and test faced by operators during enrollment periods.
The high turnover rate among teaching staff generally arises from low salaries and heavy workloads. Some tutoring centers lower their hiring standards to quickly recruit teachers, such as hiring students or temporary workers. Additionally, many teachers may want to set up their own businesses after years of teaching, taking an entire class with them. This is a painful situation for operators and difficult to manage. Therefore, stabilizing the teaching staff involves selecting suitable teachers and, more importantly, regularly monitoring their teaching conditions and providing appropriate support. Establishing a systematic management approach and regularly communicating with teachers about teaching and administrative matters can create a sense of participation and accomplishment, fostering a supportive environment where teachers are willing to work alongside the operators rather than viewing the center as just a job.
Parents send their children to tutoring centers to see significant learning outcomes. Therefore, it is not surprising that many parents react by consulting the tutoring center when they notice their child struggling in school, especially in subjects like English. However, teachers must help parents understand that the teaching materials used by schools and tutoring centers may differ, and the teaching pace at the tutoring center may not always align with what the school covers in a given semester. Therefore, we recommend that teachers proactively inform parents of learning progress and the differences between the two settings. Additionally, using parent meetings or other events to showcase students' learning achievements at various stages, such as regular English phone interviews or posting students' essays on bulletin boards, can help demonstrate their writing skills. Many large chain tutoring centers frequently organize a variety of events, including plays, speech contests, writing contests, spelling bees, and encourage students to participate in relevant English proficiency tests to showcase their learning achievements.
When parents choose tutoring centers for their children, they often ask friends and neighbors for recommendations. Therefore, establishing a good reputation is vital. Highlighting the center's unique features and clearly communicating what areas the center can strengthen for children is essential. However, avoid making exaggerated and false advertisements, as parents are discerning. If a tutoring center advertises results that are unrealistic, it may lead to more questions and skepticism from parents later. Teacher training and standards are crucial to establishing a good reputation; poor teaching staff not only affects teaching quality but can also lead to complaints from parents. It is undeniable that a tutoring center can be negatively impacted by a single teacher's poor performance, creating a negative impression of the entire center. Therefore, in addition to managing educational affairs closely, operators should also observe and remind teachers about their communication attitudes with students and parents. Inappropriate communication can lead to misunderstandings about teachers or the tutoring center. Building a good reputation is an ongoing process, especially critical for self-managed or small tutoring centers. Large chain centers often have significant financial resources for advertising to attract parents' attention, whereas small centers, with limited funding, need to build trust with parents through word-of-mouth to attract new students.
Teachers should maintain close contact with parents, not only to convey class matters and inform them of children's learning status but also to establish a good interactive relationship. For teachers who have many students, engaging every parent can be challenging. Therefore, we recommend using phone interviews or casual conversations when parents drop off or pick up their children to proactively inform them about the overall learning status of their child and understand their expectations and concerns. Additionally, most parents will review their child's contact books, so teachers can use these to inform parents about their child's learning progress or share information about English learning. If teachers have a good rapport with parents, they are more likely to communicate any complaints or suggestions directly with the teacher first, allowing for timely feedback to the school or appropriate adjustments in teaching.
Teachers must recognize that today's students have their own opinions and are not as compliant as students in the past. If teachers are too rigid with students, they often ignore them or even refuse to attend class. Thus, building a friendly relationship with students is crucial. Especially when teaching elementary to middle school students, if teachers still rely heavily on lecturing, students will likely tune out or become frustrated. Therefore, modern teachers must master various teaching methods and learn how to connect with students as friends, entering their world. Sometimes, even a few minutes of conversation about their favorite TV shows, idols, or school events while writing in their contact books can bridge the gap. Additionally, leading by example is essential; today's students are very perceptive and will test teachers' patience and credibility. By being a trustworthy teacher, one naturally earns students' trust.
蘊藏許多助人的知識與智慧。