When you need expert individual support with skill, strategy, behavior, or body of knowledge, you’ll probably reach out to a tutor or coach. How do those roles differ, and how can you get the most out of them? Amy and Mike invited test prep professional Scott Clyburn to define coaching for academic success.
What are five things you will learn in this episode?
- Is there a difference between teaching and coaching?
- What are simple conversation habits that keep students in the driver’s seat in learning?
- What is the best way to benchmark executive function skills?
- Why is it valuable to look at habits you want to change as experiments?
- What are the most common pitfalls when tutors try to shift to a coaching approach?
MEET OUR GUEST
Scott Clyburn holds degrees from the University of Virginia and Yale University and is the founder and director of North Avenue Education, a premier test-preparation and study-skills firm based in Portland, Oregon.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Scott has taught in both secondary and higher education and has been a professional tutor since 2005. He sees tutoring as an opportunity for any student to become a better learner. Scott specializes in coaching students with LD and is motivated by seeing his students transform their potential into action. Scott is the author of the North Avenue Guide to Study Skills, which will be published this winter and licensable by tutors and orgs in 2026.
Scott previously appeared on the podcast in episode 97 to discuss Test Prep for Students with Accommodations.
Find Scott at scott.clyburn@northaveeducation.com or https://northaveeducation.com.
LINKS
The difference between tutoring and academic coaching
RELATED EPISODES
EFFECTIVE STUDY SKILLS FOR TEST PREPARATION
HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
THE THREE CORE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS AND TEST PREP
WHY PROFESSIONALISM IN TUTORS MATTERS
WHY YOU WANT TO WORK WITH A CAREER TUTOR
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our past episodes on the show page and keep up with our future ones by subscribing to our email newsletter.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. Get in touch with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, consulting, or anything podcast related through our contact page. We’d love to hear from you!