What is a reading tutor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted Experts
Dr. Diana Jones,
Karen Chandler Ph.D.
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If you are a bookworm and love teaching, then a position as a reading tutor is just for you! A reading tutor provides personal or small group assistance to students who struggle to read. Your responsibility is to provide literacy assistance for your students to become fluent and confident readers and have the comprehension skills required to understand what is being read.

In this role, your setting may either be online or face-to-face in a classroom. Your position entails you providing simple reading material and asking your students questions to assess their comprehension. From time to time, you may give them reading pieces to further assess the improvement of their reading skills.

The most obvious skills you require to become a reading tutor are reading, writing, and comprehending the language you are tutoring. Because you will most likely be working with children, you will require patience, gentleness, and need to be organized for lesson planning.

With regards to education, a high school diploma should suffice even though some companies may require you to have a BA degree in the language you will be tutoring.

What general advice would you give to a Reading Tutor?

D

Dr. Diana JonesDr. Diana Jones LinkedIn Profile

Chair, Department of Kinesiology, Anderson University

General advice: I would encourage graduates to find a mentor who can guide them in their careers, stay on top of the latest technology, not be too hard on themselves, be flexible, be team players, be present, and care about their students.
ScoreReading TutorUS Average
Salary
2.5

Avg. Salary $32,191

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
3.9

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
10.0
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.50%

Asian 8.08%

Black or African American 10.65%

Hispanic or Latino 16.35%

Unknown 5.89%

White 58.53%

Gender

female 81.18%

male 18.82%

Age - 42
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42
Stress Level
3.9

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
5.3

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
9.4

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Reading Tutor career paths

Key steps to become a reading tutor

  1. Explore reading tutor education requirements

    Most common reading tutor degrees

    Bachelor's

    66.2 %

    Master's

    13.4 %

    Associate

    11.9 %
  2. Start to develop specific reading tutor skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Kids34.77%
    Math26.00%
    Professional Development23.64%
    AmeriCorps6.45%
    English Language2.40%
  3. Complete relevant reading tutor training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New reading tutors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a reading tutor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real reading tutor resumes.
  4. Research reading tutor duties and responsibilities

    • Manage a phonetic/whole language curriculum for middle/high school students with various learning differences.
    • Work with students with ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
    • Perform the role of a reading tutor for students that have English as a second language (ESL).
    • Design and implement lessons focuse on fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness.
  5. Prepare your reading tutor resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your reading tutor resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a reading tutor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Reading Tutor Resume templates

    Build a professional Reading Tutor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Reading Tutor resume.
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    Reading Tutor Resume
  6. Apply for reading tutor jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a reading tutor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Reading Tutor Job

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Are you a Reading Tutor?

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Average reading tutor salary

The average Reading Tutor salary in the United States is $32,191 per year or $15 per hour. Reading tutor salaries range between $21,000 and $49,000 per year.

Average Reading Tutor Salary
$32,191 Yearly
$15.48 hourly

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How do reading tutors rate their job?

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Reading Tutor reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022
Pros

Kids, teaching lessons, co-teachers, hours, weekends off, salary, holidays off, summers off, paid sick and personal days


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Cons

Some students' non-challant attitude towards learning.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020
Pros

The pedagogical autonomy. Teaching is an art and every year is (and should be) different. I recreate goals, programs and targets according to the needs of the students each year. Maine is an incredible place to teach as it doesn't require 3 page (or more lesson plans for each day. The admins are supportive and teachers are encouraged to improve and change their craft as needed.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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