All tutoring relies on content aligned with the California Content Standards. An assessment is given to each child to determine his/her academic needs and to decide what goals to include in the Student Learning Plan (SLP). Tutors then determine what areas need the most focus and emphasis, and they establish the tutoring hours.

BEST uses instructional materials developed by Curriculum Associates®, for elementary and middle school instruction, and Saddleback Publishing, Inc.®, for secondary instruction. These materials were chosen after an exhaustive search for quality teaching materials and are approved by the California Department of Education.

Within each module of the curriculum, key strategies are identified that are considered necessary for mastering a particular area of study. For example, Reading Comprehension materials feature eight key strategies: asking questions, determining importance, inferring, making connections, predicting outcomes, returning to the text, summarizing, and visualizing the text. There are several units within each student book, and the central element of each unit is a text for students to read. These fiction and non-fiction selections include a variety of genres to maintain student interest. There are also several lessons that address distinct elements of each essential California Content Standard. To increase the likelihood of success, the materials and resources take each student through a process that combines diagnosis, instruction, application, benchmarking, and practice

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