About Zale
Get to know my background, my approach, and why I love tutoring.
Meet Zale
I'm Zale Rasco. I have a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Maine, a 1600 SAT, and over six years of experience tutoring over 150 students in math, test prep, and college admissions. I'm based in Chicago's South Loop and work with students both locally and online.
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My approach is thoughtful, structured, and personal. I pay close attention to where a student is getting stuck, identify conceptual gaps, and look for the explanation that makes the idea click. Whether we’re working on the SAT, algebra, AP calculus, or a college essay, my goal is the same: clear support, real progress, and a student who leaves feeling more capable than when they arrived.
How I tutor
I'm a diagnostic tutor. When a student gets something wrong, I'm not thinking about the mistake - I'm thinking about what's underneath it. A wrong answer on a rate problem might trace back to a shaky understanding of fractions from five years ago. A low ACT Science score might have nothing to do with science and everything to do with how the student reads dense passages under pressure.
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I build structured plans around what I find. Every student gets a clear picture of where they are, where they're headed, and what we're working on in each session. But I also adjust constantly - because real progress rarely follows a straight line.
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My approach works across subjects because the core habit is the same: look past the surface, find the real gap, and address it directly.
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How I got here
I came to math the way most people don't - I fell in love with it. In college I studied real analysis, abstract algebra, complex analysis, and differential geometry. I seriously considered a career in mathematical research. I still think about math that way: as something with structure and beauty underneath the surface, not just a set of procedures to memorize for a test.
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But somewhere along the way, I realized I was just as drawn to the teaching side. I kept noticing that the hardest part of math wasn't the ideas themselves - it was the gap between how a concept actually works and how it gets explained. I got obsessed with closing that gap. Finding the right example. Figuring out why a particular explanation falls flat and rebuilding it from scratch.
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In college I worked with TRIO, supporting first-generation college students - many of whom had been told, directly or indirectly, that math wasn't for them. That work shaped me. It taught me that good tutoring isn't just about knowing the material. It's about understanding what a student believes about themselves and meeting them there.