clinician

tutor

human resources assistant

center director

educator

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes

While the programs are wonderful and truly do work, Lindamood-Bell is not a company I would recommend to anyone looking for employment (except for possibly a seasonal position, where you only have to endure the pain for a few months.) I was with the company for several years, and eventually left due to the fact I felt, well, extremely insulted.

Let's start with this: raises do not seem to be a thing. I was told several times that I would be receiving a raise, I inquired about this several times, and saw ONE raise in the several years I was with the company. The raise, for the amount of work I put in and promotions I'd received throughout the years, was INCREDIBLY insulting. Hard work and being a team player is not recognized at this company unless you are in a higher-up position such as Center Director. The favoritism is REAL and there is a lot of going behind people's backs and snarky comments. Everyone claims to be doing what they do because they love the students and want success all around, but in reality, management only cares about the paycheck in their pocket.

The communication between management and the "lesser" employees at the center (aka -- people like myself and my fellow Clinicians/Mentors/Testers and even the Consultants) was virtually nonexistent. We worked incredibly hard and saw very little in return. Not even a compliment that held meaning. Concerns and suggestions were always ignored. There were also SEVERAL times where I was asked to do something that wasn't in my job description, or was told to do something because one of the higher-ups didn't have the time (aka didn't feel like doing it.) This led to stress, frustration, and downright anger. The environment at Lindamood-Bell is incredibly toxic because there is little to no communication, no incentives for even wanting to perform well at the job (which is why the turnover rate is so high, who wants to stick around a miserable environment?)

I was a full-time employee. Vacation requests are not always granted, and when I asked to take time off for any reason, ranging from a family vacation to a funeral, I always received grief and eye rolls and a rude attitude and people going behind my back, like can you believe the AUDACITY of this employee to request time off when the hours have been earned? ...Are you kidding me?! Be professional.

At first, I believed I was making a difference in kids' lives by taking this job. I thought I would absolutely love it. And don't get me wrong-- the students are absolutely incredible and that's the main reason I stuck around for as long as I did. I miss my students every day. But for my own mental health, I had to go.

If you want a job where you will be made to feel like you've gotten a promotion-- but receive no raise; if you want a job where you'll feel patronized and looked down upon; if you want a job with little-to-zero work/life balance; if you want a job where you'll seriously feel like crying at the end of the day -- please, by all means, go work for Lindamood-Bell.

My happiest day in the past few years was the day I finally quit that job.

I started work for my job at LB in March 2019, and I was really excited to work there! I had been tutoring for nearly a decade and I was excited to get a “proper job” at a place with an interesting ethos and educational theory. I was also excited to join a company that offered many benefits such as teaching overseas, opportunities for advancement and increased training to teach new clientele at the company.

The interview and screening were quite intense, so I was flattered to be extended a job offer. I attended an intensive, two-week training with two other people and then we were on the floor.

Hours started off promising. I was paid above minimum wage, but a bit less than what I’m used to (anywhere from 30 to 45 an hour). However, I was working 8 hour days, 5 days a week, so it felt like I was being decently compensated.

After a while, hours started to drop off and become more unreliable. They also became stranger - we were told in our training that standard shifts were four hours with a 15-minute break in the middle, but much of the time you were only contracted for a 3-hour shift two or three days of the week. Sometimes there were no shifts at all. That surprised me. I didn’t think there would be no work.

I had a great rapport with a lot of the kids, but some of them hated the whole experience. That wasn’t our fault, but the desperation of parents who wanted something, anything, to have their kids keep up in school. Some of them would lash out, insult us, or shut off completely. The tips and tricks I used in my other jobs didn’t work on them. They hated the rigidity and repetitiveness of the whole affair. I got it, it was starting to tire me out too.

Other strange things started to happen. The company started to hire more clinicians and give them more hours and even more training. During LB’s busiest periods, I was passed over for temporary employees that disappeared after four to six weeks on the floor. After I approached management, they told me that I was not doing enough “diagnostic thinking” and that I “wasn’t ready” to work with the more “difficult” kids, but I felt it was like they did not have any faith in my skills, my abilities, my work ethic or my character. I was never scheduled to work with these “difficult kids” in the first place. That was when I made the decision to leave and join another company.

Lindamood-Bell are a good company to work for in a temporary position, but it often feels like there is a general lack of support for its most loyal employees. 

Working at Lindamood Bell is probably the most unique position I've ever held, and that's not necessarily a good thing. I've been working here for 4 years now, and I've perhaps only truly enjoyed one of those years. Poor management can make or break your experience here. When I first started, after the summer period ended, the hours were extremely inconsistent. There is a lot of clear favoritism for certain employees based on who is friends with management at the time, and those people tend to get a lot more lenience with mistakes and accomodations (aka hours, time off, etc). You don't stand to gain much by bending over backwards for this company outside of hearing a few kind words every so often, bonuses don't really exist here. There is a revolving door of new employees, and so anyone who lasts longer than 6 months is pressured to take on more responsibility, with minimal incentive to do so. Student behavior is handled extremely poorly and we get no training in how to deal with it effectively, so often clinicians are forced into uncomfortable and stressful situations with unruly students multiple times throughout the week, and since the company doesn't want to lose students, there's not much done to support the employees. The job can be extremely emotionally draining, but the company doesn't seem to care, as they can always find someone else to fill your position. However, once you become trained in every program along with testing, they suddenly flip the script and need you to take on everyone's responsibility, once again, with no benefits, and only more stress on your plate. The only thing good about working here is getting to know the students, otherwise I wouldn't recommend. Management can vary wildly, and often is a revolving door as well. Coworkers are usually cordial to friendly, but we are all pressured to put on a happy face day to day, and rarely get any chance to address or resolve ongoing issues, and it's clear the company doesn't intend to address them either, as all they seem to prioritize is the money they're making from the students.

This can be a good place to work as they will train you in their programs and the other clinicians who work there are generally very kind hearted people.  Their programs do work and you do feel like you are making a difference.  Having said that, don't expect much positive feedback from management or empathy if you have an overloaded schedule.  The schedule changes frequently and there is not much respect for the clinician's time or plans.  For instance, if you make a doctor's appt. for a time you were not initially scheduled, they can slide a student in there if it is before 24 hours.  Therefore, you have to use your vacation or sick time to keep that time open for your appointment.  The pay is still very low for what is expected of each clinician and it can be exhausting, especially if you are scheduled for an 8 hour day with only 5 minutes between each student.  They have the ability to teach online, but will not allow you to teach remotely from your home.  When someone puts in their notice, management will not do anything special for that person, even if they are leaving on good terms.  Some people do not even know a colleague has left until they are gone.  There is very little positive feedback given to the clinicians, and this can be very demotivating.  

I worked for Lindamood-Bell in one of their seasonal learning centers. I was skeptical of the company from the get-go, but took the position anyways. The other new hires and I were not told until the first day of training that it would now be a part time position even though we were told it was full time at the 5 hour long screening and interview. Because of this, after the 80 hr paid training, the hours were constantly changing, sometimes the day of. The schedule for the upcoming week wasn't sent out until late on a friday and was subject to change throughout the week. 

The work itself is fun and enjoyable for the most part. The kids are great and I felt adequately prepared to implement the programs. However, in my specific center, I don't feel that we were instructed well enough on how to manage extreme behavioral outbursts in the students, which at times was a huge problem. 

My main grievance and probably why I would never consider working for them full time is the management. There was a lack of transparency from the management down. I often felt like my Consultant was withholding information from me or simply not giving me a straight answer. My concerns or suggestions for working with certain students were always ignored and I was told that I didn't 'see the whole picture'  and to follow the program. This was extremely belittling and rude, especially when the majority of the clinicians at my center had education experience and were just as experienced and qualified as our Consultant. Furthermore, I think that the company itself has kind of brainwashed the majority of their employees into thinking they are making a difference, when in reality they are a BUSINESS just like anyone else and are willing to exploit families and students and their tutors for the sake of profit.

Working as a clinician is incredibly fulfilling! It’s wonderful to see our students progress firsthand - from struggling to recognize letters to reading chapter books. The job allows you to use your creativity to create fun and engaging sessions, and build your students confidence in a very positive and supportive learning environment. Implementing the students lesson plans is not particularly difficult work , but we deal with a large load of students with behaviors.  The nature of our work has us work with many neurodivergent students whom have higher support needs, and while the staff does an excellent job with providing strategies, tips, and support to manage difficult behaviors, the burden of behavioral management is largely placed on the one-on-one clinicians on a day to day basis. The Pasadena location of LMB has a staff that is well equipped to handle challenging student behavior and provides excellent instruction to nonverbal autistic students, and students that require specific communication needs. My only complaint is that the above-and-beyond work that clinicians perform is not reflected sufficiently in their pay. LMB is a faced paced and highly demanding workplace, where people with a passion to teach and inspire their students thrive. It truly is a joy to see the students growth but it is a shame that while parents are paying $100+ an hour, clinicians are only being paid a fraction of that. I think we provide excellence data proven results, but their is such a high turnover rate because good teachers can easily be overworked and burn out by performing duties of a parent or behavioral therapist on top of their normal instruction. 

Sacramento boots on the ground staff are great! Positives pretty much end about there. 


Cons: Horrible corporate culture, rampant favoritism (corporate), outdated training (watching videos of trainers training) and outdated self-gratifying manuals on the program, low budget which decreases recidivism of returning employees and low mentorship presence (although this year there were more mentors than last year), marketing a $3,000 rehire bonus without clarifying beforehand that it is before taxes are taken out: make sure to ask HR for clarification before. They will assume you know that what is marketing is before taxes. I only found out after receiving my bonus. 



Advice for MGMT: 

-Be transparent about the rehire bonus. Though by law, you aren't lying, it is wrong to market it as if you will get all the $3,000

-Give centers more budget for more staff to cover when others are out and still have staff leftover to continue being assigned and operating as a mentor

-Update your training manuals, and physically travel to your centers to gain input on how to improve the infrastructure of learning processes for employees

-Pay your consultants more and require them to come into the office: lack of consultant presence negatively impacts the ones that are in person 

-Do not overload and burn out clinicians to be responsible for behavior management on top of motivation, play to keep students engaged, taking data, AND reading all the student information updates. We did not sign up to manage behavior


The #1 thing this company looks for in employees is that they will smile and nod, no matter what is asked of them. 

Let me give you an example: The Center Director that was there when I left was amazed that plants could survive off light from a lamp. This person is the head of an educational institution? She's also been transferred to a larger center since then, showing you that promotions come if you're dumber than a bag of rocks. 

If you're a person with opinions and who wants to see this company succeed, I'm afraid they just don't want to hear your suggestions. You're better off just buying the books online to learn the program, then opening a rival company. You can buy those books at Gander Publishing, which also lines the pockets of the owner of Lindamood-Bell. 

I have so much more to say to describe how much I feel Lindamood-Bell is stealing dreams away from parents who work so hard to have their children succeed. One family took out a loan (might have even been a second mortgage, I'm not 100% sure) for their son to come to Lindamood-Bell, only for him to make little progress, as evidenced by Lindamood-Bell's own testing procedure (which they even rig to show more gains by changing versions if the kid does worse). Then, the vapid CD described above was supposed to sell them on more hours (which they always do). So these parents are going into debt and not seeing progress, and Lindamood-Bell continues to try to suck them dry. 

It's not always immediately apparent, but the more time you spend at this company, the more you see how dishonest they are, how stupid most higher-ups are, and how everything is about more money for Nanci Bell.

Working at Lindamood-Bell is a mostly positive experience. You get to show up at work every day knowing you are changing the lives of students and their families and seeing the self esteem and confidence grow in your students is so inspiring!

However, there is definitely a trickle down effect of negativity. Learning Center managers have a lot of pressure placed on them to sell instruction and bring in revenue (which, is common for any business that sells something). Almost everybody in a management role began at Lindamood-Bell as an instructor, so many of them don’t have experience with sales and think expectations are unrealistic when they are not. That being said, if you have an unhappy director, the entire center suffers. 

While sales pressure should be expected, culture has been lacking company-wide since the pandemic. Sales incentive bonuses are nearly impossible to achieve, and staff rarely get recognized with anything else aside from a pat on the head and a “good job, you are valued.” There isn’t much action to back up the words, and center managers aren’t able to independently make decisions regarding things like raises and bonuses for their staff, so many are left wanting more.

The work done at Lindamood-Bell is amazing but there is a common trend of unhappy staff. Hundreds of reviews say the same things, yet corporate makes no change, and even deactivated the employee suggestion form. Listen to your staff! Your staff are the ones selling your product day in and day out and if they aren’t happy, how can you expect your students and families to be?

I began working here as a clinician on a friend's recommendation who is also still employed with the company. Working as a clinician isn't the most challenging job as long as you can stand repetitive work and are capable of multi-tasking. Each hour you work with a different kid to perform specific tasks to help improve the child's reading, writing, communication, comprehension, or math skills. It's up to you to make the lessons fun and interactive with the kids. Management does there best to work with your schedule and adjust to your needs. Occasionally you will have to alert them to you not having your break properly scheduled, but they will immediately work to get your break set up. 
There are summer hiring periods where they take seasonal employees but are happy to keep anyone who is interested in staying. Each kid has a personalized schedule that you are supposed to follow while you work with them and you are also expected to keep notes of your session with the kid. This can feel a bit intimidating your first few weeks but by the month marker, I felt like I had time to spare while working with the kids. 
The hardest part about working as a clinician was the initial 2 week training period. It is paid training for about 9 hours a day with two 15 minute breaks and an hour lunch. The training fully prepares you for working with the students but it is very draining at points. Working with kids was very fun and rewarding. You'll meet a full array of personalities and get to see major changes happen in these kids' reading abilities.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clinician 11 salaries reported	$21.09 per hour
Tutor 13 salaries reported	$21.15 per hour
Human resources assistant 5 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Center director 3 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
Educator 2 salaries reported	$21.50 per hour

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