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11G is a Sylvan (and gold) lining for mom in Learning suit

The mother should also sue the school for basing her second grader's progress in school on a standardized test. No psychometrician would support this, not even the test maker.

by Jimmy Vielkind

A Brooklyn mother who trusted "the Sylvan guarantee" that her kids would do better in school sued the tutoring agency when her daughter flunked a grade - and won.

A judge awarded Terrain Drew more than $11,000 last week in a civil trial that started after her daughter was held back despite eight months of three-times-a-week tutoring.

Drew had taken out a loan to enroll her two kids in $11,000 worth of classes offered by Sylvan Learning Center in Sheepshead Bay. She said she was drawn by an ad that promised, "Your child will improve at least one full grade level equivalent in reading or math within 36 hours of instruction or we'll provide 12 additional hours of instruction at no further cost."

Drew thought things were going well - Sylvan reported that her kids were doing better on in-house assessment tests - until her daughter flunked a standardized test and was forced to repeat second grade.

"We did do our best," Donna Waters, director of Sylvan's Sheepshead Bay center, testified during the trial. But she added, "Some of the areas of education that we're teaching at Sylvan doesn't necessarily correlate," according to court records.

Brooklyn Civil Court Justice Genine Edwards fined Sylvan $105 and required the company to cover Drew's legal fees and reimburse her tutoring costs, with interest.

Sylvan officials could not be reached for comment.

— Jimmy Vielkind
New York Daily News
2007-06-18


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