History
Founder Daniel Birnbaum began tutoring in 2003. Later, after working in the public school system for a few years, Daniel realized that there are three main differences between his approach and those taken by most schools and educators. The first is expertise - many teachers and tutors simply lack the requisite knowledge and skills in their subject areas, and the ability to effectively teach students what they do know. The second is time and experience - no matter how dedicated or experienced a teacher is, it is impossible for one to give significant time and attention to any one student when that teacher meets with over a hundred students a day. On the other end of the spectrum, tutors often have the time for individual students, but many lack experience, and see tutoring as a side gig to pay the bills while they pursue their main vocations. Third, and most important, is goals and technique - most teachers and tutors teach by rote or teach to the test, and generally both approaches meet with little success.
When Daniel founded Ascendant Tutoring in 2010, he did so with the goal of making sure that each of its students would receive what they couldn't get in school: expertise, time, experience and, most importantly, a genuine attempt to teach students how to reason through problems and learn academic self-sufficiency. Since then, he and Ascendant's other tutors have dutifully pursued that goal, and their students have been the beneficiaries.