Elementary Special Education Tutor

Elementary Special Education Tutor

Thrive Education Partners is seeking an exceptional elementary special education teacher or learning specialist to provide individualized academic support to students in the Los Angeles area. We are looking for a warm, dynamic, and highly responsive educator who understands how to support children with diverse learning needs while maintaining high expectations for their growth.

Great individualized instruction starts with understanding the whole learner: where a student is academically, how they learn best, which underlying skills or learning differences may be creating barriers, and what supports will help them move forward. Our tutors use that understanding to establish meaningful goals, design targeted instruction, and help students make clear, measurable progress over time.

The ideal candidate is an experienced elementary educator with a strong special education background who can recognize why a student is struggling—not simply that they are struggling. This person should be comfortable adapting curriculum, breaking complex skills into manageable steps, providing explicit and systematic instruction, and adjusting their approach in real time based on student response.

What You'll Do

• Provide individualized instruction to elementary-aged students with a range of learning needs and learning differences.
• Assess students' current skills and use available school records, evaluations, assessment data, and observations to identify instructional priorities.
• Develop individualized learning goals and intentionally plan instruction toward those goals.
• Provide targeted support in reading, writing, and mathematics, based on each student's needs.
• Differentiate and scaffold grade-level content so students can meaningfully access learning while continuing to build foundational skills.
• Use explicit, systematic instruction and evidence-based intervention strategies when appropriate.
• Support executive-function skills including attention, organization, task initiation, working memory, and independence.
• Monitor student progress and adjust instruction when a student is not responding as expected.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with students and create sessions that are engaging, encouraging, and appropriately challenging.
• Communicate thoughtfully and professionally with parents and Thrive's educational team about student progress, priorities, and areas of continued need.

Our Approach

At Thrive, individualized education means more than helping a student get through today's homework. Our educators work to understand the underlying skills a child needs to develop, establish clear priorities for growth, and provide intentional instruction that moves the student forward.

We're looking for an educator who can meet a child where they are, build a relationship that makes learning feel safe and achievable, and then thoughtfully challenge them toward greater skill, confidence, and independence.

Requirements

We're Looking for Someone Who...

• Has significant experience teaching or supporting elementary students with learning differences.
• Has a strong foundation in special education, intervention, or individualized instruction.
• Can look beneath a student's academic performance to determine the specific skills or barriers contributing to difficulty.
• Is comfortable working with students with needs such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, executive-function challenges, autism, language-based learning differences, and other learning profiles.
• Understands how to scaffold instruction without unnecessarily lowering expectations.
• Is highly responsive and able to pivot instruction when a particular approach isn't working.
• Can balance remediation of foundational skills with support for the student's current classroom curriculum.
• Understands the importance of progress monitoring and can use student performance to guide instructional decisions.
• Brings warmth, patience, creativity, flexibility, and a genuine ability to connect with children.
• Values collaboration with families and other professionals supporting the student.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Special Education, Elementary Education, Education, or a related field.
• Special education teaching credential or equivalent professional experience strongly preferred.
• Experience as a special education teacher, interventionist, learning specialist, resource teacher, or educational therapist.
• Training in evidence-based reading, writing, and/or math intervention approaches is a plus.
• Experience interpreting psychoeducational evaluations, IEP goals, assessment results, or progress-monitoring data is strongly preferred.

Benefits

Compensation

• $60 - $100/hour commensurate with experience, credentials
• Competitive compensation, with opportunities for rate increases based on experience, performance, and continued work with Thrive.
• Part-time role with consistent weekly hours
• Opportunity for ongoing, long-term work with the family

Logistics

• Location: Los Angeles, CA; primarily in-home
• Schedule: Consistent weekly tutoring at mutually agreed-upon times
• Commitment: Ongoing academic support with a commitment through the full school year to provide consistency and continuity for the student.
• Start Date: Family is prepared to move forward within the next 1–2 weeks
• Scheduling: Family has flexibility and is open to establishing a consistent schedule with the right educator

The goal is to create a consistent weekly rhythm that allows the educator to build strong relationships with both students, understand their individual strengths and needs, and provide support that goes beyond traditional homework help.

Support

• Personalized matching—Thrive vets families thoroughly before introductions, so your time is spent with qualified, serious clients
• Dedicated placement coordinator throughout the hiring process
• Access to Thrive’s educator network and resources
• Ongoing placement opportunities with Thrive

Why This Role

This role is a great fit for an educator who loves the impact of individualized instruction and wants the opportunity to work closely with students over time.

You’ll support two students at different stages of their education, with the flexibility to tailor instruction to what each learner needs most. For one student, that may mean identifying and closing academic gaps while strengthening executive-functioning skills and independence. For the other, it may mean reinforcing foundational skills, providing enrichment, and building confidence heading into the next school year.

Rather than simply helping students complete assignments, the family is looking for an educator who can develop a thoughtful academic plan, recognize where additional support is needed, and help both students become more confident and active participants in their learning.

About Thrive

Thrive Education Partners connects exceptional educators with families seeking highly personalized, values-driven education.

Our placements go beyond traditional tutoring. We thoughtfully match educators and families to create individualized learning experiences where students can strengthen academic skills, build confidence, and develop the habits they need for long-term success.

Thrive Education Partners is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and make hiring decisions based on experience, skills, and business needs, without regard to any status protected by applicable law.