It’s no secret—by far the most requested subject for tutoring is math. This is true at all grade levels, but especially in the upper grades. Why is this? Is math just that much more difficult than all the other subjects?
The state of math education in the United States
Education in the United States is not standardized across the country. Each state has its own standards and requirements, and each school district within the state sets its own curriculum. Dr. Jo Boaler is the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. She is a passionate promoter of mathematics reform, and she says that math is the subject “with the most damaging ideas held by teachers, students, and parents.” According to Dr. Boaler, students decide early on if they are a “math person” or they’re not. And this designation lasts into adulthood.
Since US students rank lower in math scores than the global average, there has been a lot of attention paid to how math is taught here. Students in most Asian countries, along with Russia, Ireland, England, the UAE, Latvia, Norway, Lithuania, Austria, and the Netherlands all rank higher on the TIMSS mathematics scale.
Some feel, along with Dr. Boaler, that the two main reasons for this are 1) we lack consensus on the goals of K-12 math education, and 2) we lack consensus on how to define and measure success of math education.
What are schools doing about it?
According to Dr. Heather Hill, Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education, “Efforts to improve K-8 mathematics instruction have been a consistent feature of the education policy landscape for the past three decades, from the revised state mathematics standards of the 1990s to the Common Core educational standards enacted in 2010.” For the past three years, Dr. Hill, along with some of her colleagues, has been collecting evidence on U.S. mathematics instruction.
They have found that teachers’ mathematical knowledge has improved over time, and more teachers (19%) are using standards-aligned curriculum materials. However these findings represent what she calls “modest” gains. The vast majority of teachers are not using standards-aligned curriculum materials, and there are many reasons for that, including weak incentives. It took a while to get math education into its current condition, and it will take a while to get us out of it.
Since Common Core was first adopted in 2010, there were 46 states which eventually adopted the standards in their schools. However since then, 16 states have either withdrawn from the curriculum or are in the process of withdrawing, and 4 states never adopted it. “There is no evidence that the standards had a significant, positive impact on student achievement” according to Tom Loveless, former Brookings Expert and author of the recently released Between the State and the Schoolhouse: Understanding the Failure of Common Core.
What can parents do?
Parents who have tried to help their students in math have been frustrated by the generation gap in how math is taught. No longer able to rely on “how we used to do it”, parents are finding that even elementary level math is unfamiliar and somewhat daunting. Hence, math has become the most requested subject for tutoring.
One-on-one tutoring with a certified classroom teacher who is familiar with how math is taught in your state can have the greatest impact on your child’s success in math. In a classroom environment, the teacher has very little time to work individually with any student, and kids are often reluctant to ask for help because they don’t want to risk looking “stupid” in front of their peers.
Some tutoring companies use college students or subject-matter-experts who are good in math to do their math tutoring. The weakness in this approach is that these tutors are not trained educators. It’s one thing to be great at a certain subject but it’s another thing altogether to be able to evaluate, assess, educate, and adapt in order to help a struggling student improve.
That’s why all of the tutors at TutorUp are certified, experienced, background-checked classroom teachers who only work one-on-one with students to provide the personalized support your child needs to be successful. If your child is one of the many who could use some personalized time with a teacher to help them improve in math, let us know. We can help.
Among all of the disruptions in normal activity due to the Covid 19 pandemic, there has been continued uncertainty over college entrance exams like the ACT and SAT. Normal schedules and procedures for the tests have been completely upended, and there has been a lot of misinformation about whether or not high school students should still take the tests and whether colleges and universities were still requiring them.
More than half of all 4-year colleges have decided to go “test optional” for Fall 2021 admissions, and some schools – including all California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) schools – will not consider your test scores even if you submit them. However, that means that there are still many schools that do require the tests. Bottom line, check the schools you’re interested in for their latest announcements.
Should you still take the SAT or ACT?
Getting accepted into the college of your choice is still a highly competitive process, and anything that can give you an advantage over your peers is worth pursuing. Since the College Board and the ACT don’t report test scores to any schools unless you choose to submit them, there is no down side to taking the tests. And if you’re able to score well, submitting your scores – even to a “test optional” school – can help.
More reasons to take the test
25 states actually require SAT or ACT scores as part of high school graduation requirements, so even if you’re not planning to attend a college that requires them, you may need to take the test to get your high school diploma.
Up to 60% of scholarships still require an SAT or ACT score to be submitted in order to qualify.
In addition, many colleges will use SAT or ACT test scores to decide on awarding merit scholarships to incoming students, even if the school is a “test optional” school.
Which test to take?
Most colleges and universities will accept test scores from either test and don’t have a preference for one or the other. Students are increasingly interested in taking both tests in order to provide more information with their applications that could give them an edge over other applicants.
Preparing to take the ACT
The ACT standardized college entrance exam covers English, Math, Reading, and Science. It also offers an optional Writing test, although some colleges require you to take the Writing test even though it’s “optional”. Most students take the ACT in the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year in high school. It’s possible to re-take the test (up to 12 times) in order to improve your score, and submit your highest score to the school(s) you’re interested in attending.
The highest score possible is 36, and the average score is 21.
The test takes 2 hours and 55 minutes, or 3 hours and 35 minutes with the Writing test.
The SAT standardized college entrance exam measures student skills in Reading, Math, and Writing. There is also an optional essay. Like the ACT test, most students take the SAT in the spring of 11th grade or the fall of 12th grade. There’s no limit to how many times you can take the SAT.
The highest possible score for the SAT is 1600 and schools each have their own expectations for applicants. Highly selective schools look for scores in the 1400-1500+ range. To find out which score to try for, it’s a good idea to check the school(s) you’re interested in and see what the average test scores were for the last group of students who were admitted.
The test takes 3 hours, or 3 hours and 50 minutes with the optional Essay, however the College Board has announced they will be discontinuing the optional SAT essay portion of the test, so by the time you get ready to take your SAT, the essay option may no longer be available.
One-on-one tutors to help you prep for the ACT or SAT
TutorUp offers ACT and SAT test prep tutoring to help you take practice tests and build your confidence in order to prepare you for taking either (or both) of these college entrance exams. Work with an actual certified, experienced, background-checked classroom teacher in order to increase your chances of scoring highly on these tests.
Summer is the perfect time to take a little time to focus on ACT test prep and SAT test prep. No distractions, teacher support, one-on-one.
Up-to-date information about the ACT test and Test Centers can be found here:
Homeschooling is a frightening prospect for some working parents. Getting your day organized and kids meals planned means you can survive – and thrive!
Homeschooling takes adjustment, preparation, and dedication. It can be daunting, but we have your back! This article gives some top tips to survive and even enjoy the homeschool experience.
Be clear on your expectations
First things first – do not put too much pressure on yourself. Nobody is expecting you to pull out a whiteboard and be a full-time teacher. The idea of homeschooling is to provide the best environment for your child to continue learning during this period.
The best plan for this is to build a realistic schedule that works for you and your child. Stick to it as best you can each day, but do not stress when it goes awry. Plan homeschool kids meal breaks and exercise into the day, too, so all bases are covered.
Test what works
You may find that some days your schedule simply does not work. There may be an urgent requirement from your job that you simply have to attend to. Have some backup plans ready for these periods. Your kids can enjoy some dancing or kids’ yoga classes on YouTube while you work.
Not everything has to be books and study. You can also do some practical work. Try baking, building a new Lego design, or even some simple gardening. You can even have your child ‘help’ you with some housework. Settling them down with some art and craft activities is also a great way to buy a little time.
Kids meals
Plan your kids meals for homeschool days. Healthy kids need their share of fruit and vegetables. Even fussy eaters will enjoy treats for working hard! Try healthy snacks but with a tasty sauce. Broccoli with a cheese dip or cucumber in salsa work especially well to get around picky eating!
Set a routine – and build in rewards
Draw up a schedule on some paper or a whiteboard every morning. Talk your child through it and see if they are comfortable with it. Tell them when break times and lunch will be. Let them know what delicious treats are on the menu! This is especially important for fussy eaters.
For schoolwork, try to fit in the most important activities such as math and English in the morning. All kids will be fresher and focused after a good night’s sleep, not to mention a wholesome breakfast.
Schools all across the U.S. will be dismissing for the summer break in the next few weeks, and many parents are looking for ways to keep their kids busy over the break. In addition to the normal yearly learning loss that students suffer over a long summer break, students have also suffered significant learning loss due to Covid.
We’ve put together a list of 10 free resources for parents who want some help exercising their kids’ brains over summer vacation. These are also great resources that teachers and tutors can use to create lesson plans and enrichment material.
Have you heard of the “summer learning slide?” According to studies, in a typical school year children lose about two months’ worth of educational knowledge over the summer months if they don’t engage in some type of academic activity.
Connecting with your child’s teacher or teachers is a time-tested, reliable way to get detailed feedback on how your child is doing in school, both academically and socially. We have some recommendations for helping you get the best out of a parent/teacher conference.
Have you heard of the “summer learning slide?” According to studies, in a typical school year children lose about two months’ worth of educational knowledge over the summer months if they don’t engage in some type of academic activity.
And this year has been anything but “typical”. A recent report in the Washington Post says, “school districts across the country are planning to return to full-time, in-person classes this fall.” Some school districts are planning a hybrid plan that combines in-person with some remote learning. While they debate the merits of those kinds of programs, plus many other decisions they need to make, one thing they all agree on is that learning has suffered some major setbacks over the past year.
COVID learning loss combined with the summer learning slide make a compelling argument for having students engage in some kind of academic activity over the summer.
Summer Vacation Plus Learning
Summer is a great time for kids to unwind from a particularly stressful school year, but many parents want their children to have a little bit of academic activity to keep their kids’ brains engaged and hopefully prevent more learning loss. Summer tutoring could be the perfect solution.
An hour or two a week throughout the summer could help most students maintain their current proficiency or even improve so they start the next school year ahead of where they ended this year. And teachers who work with students over the summer also keep their skills sharp while they enjoy the one-on-one interaction that they get with private tutoring.
An hour of time spent one-on-one with a certified teacher who not only knows the academic content inside and out, but is also a trained educator who knows how to help students, can achieve results far beyond spending hours in a classroom with dozens of other students.
Benefits of One-on-One Teaching
At TutorUp, all of our tutors are certified, experienced classroom teachers who have gone through our thorough interviewing/vetting process so we are confident that every tutor we match with a student is capable of making a significant contribution to that student’s academic achievement. And our summer tutors are the same top-quality teachers we work with all year. Here are just some ways that a learning experience that involves one student with one teacher is a superior teaching environment:
The student has the teacher’s undivided attention
It’s a safe space where the student does not have to be concerned about what his or her classmates might say or think. They are free to be themselves.
Related to that, a one-on-one session helps eliminate distractions and helps the student focus
The teacher is able to adapt tutoring sessions to suit the individual student’s needs and learning style
In-Person Summer Activities May Still Be Restricted
It’s looking like many summer programs, summer camps, summer sports, and other “normal” summer activities are still going to be somewhat restricted or even on hiatus this coming summer. Plus there are many parents who are not quite ready to have their children sign up for group activities. Summer tutoring can help give your child some structured activity over vacation.
Summer “school” shouldn’t be your child’s main activity. It’s important to make sure your kids have free time, and spend time soaking up vitamin D outdoors. But if you’re looking for a little learning support to avoid summer learning loss and bridge the gap until school starts back up in the fall, take a look at summer tutoring.
One of the improvements parents and teachers are enjoying in their efforts to stay in communication is the ability to meet via videoconference. In some school districts, parent/teacher conferences are taking place via Zoom or Google Meet, making it easier for many parents who might not be able to leave kids at home to attend a conference in person.
If your school isn’t formally offering these conferences in a virtual format, you should still ask your child’s teacher if that’s a possibility, and in most cases you’ll find the teacher is willing to accommodate you.
All that being said, connecting with your child’s teacher or teachers – however you manage to do it – is a time-tested, reliable way to get detailed feedback on how your child is doing in school, both academically and socially.
First, Listen
You’ll want to have some questions prepared in advance, so you remember to cover the important points, but before you start grilling the teacher, sit back and listen to what they have to say about your child.
If your child’s teacher starts out by asking, “What questions do you have for me?” give them a very broad, open-ended question that will encourage them to share their insights about your child. A good starter is “What do you want me to know about my child’s academic performance and behavior/social skills in school?”
Next, Follow Up
Once the teacher has shared some insights, you’ll want to follow up on anything she/he said and ask whatever clarifying questions you might have about what they shared.
If your child has shared something concerning with you or complained about a teacher, classmate, the workload, etc. be sure to ask the teacher for clarification. Remember you’ve only heard one side of the story.
Next you’ll want to share anything with the teacher about your home life that you think is relevant and would help them understand and work with your child. For example, illness, divorce, a new baby, moving, etc. And of course if your child has any allergies or health issues or is on medication that might affect his performance, be sure to inform his teacher(s).
Following that, here are 8 good general questions:
Is my child on grade level for the basics: reading, writing, math, science?
Which subjects/topics is my child struggling with and how can I help?
If my child does need extra help in a skill or subject, are there school resources that can help or would you recommend private tutoring?
If your child is a straight A student and not struggling, you will want to ask what you and the teacher can do to provide enriched learning and appropriate challenges so your child keeps learning and doesn’t get bored.
What can I do to help my child prepare for or improve on standardized testing and performance assessments?
What are some things we can do at home to support what you’re doing in the classroom?
If you share custody of your child with someone who doesn’t live with you, make sure that the teacher knows who all the legal parents/guardians are who should be involved in your child’s education.
Finally, you’ll want to make sure that you and the teacher have exchanged contact information and that you know the best way/time to connect.
The important thing is to establish open communication so that any concerns or issues that you or your child or the teacher may have can be addressed quickly, as they come up. It’s helpful for your child to know that you’re all working together for their benefit.
For parents who want to browse through our database of awesome teacher/tutors, we now have a search function you can use! Find a Tutor lets you browse tutors by grade level and subject, and if you find one you think would be a good match, simply select that tutor and we’ll facilitate the meeting.
All of our tutors are certified, experienced, background-checked classroom teachers!
Tutors can log in to their own profile and upload a selfie and any other info they want parents to see, to help them make that important decision on who will tutor their child.
It’s a situation that is common across the country, in every school district: students have fallen behind due to the disruptions in schooling over the past year. While parents are trying to figure out how to help their children cope with all of the changes that they’ve been faced with, school districts are coming up with various plans to tackle the learning loss that has occurred.
The Collaborative for Student Success conducted a nationwide survey of education professionals to explore how students will “catch up”. “The poll asked teachers, administrators, policymakers, and education advocates to analyze four return-to-the-classroom options: extending the next school year, beginning the next school year where instruction stopped this school year, beginning the next school year as in any other year, and offering students the opportunity to repeat their present grade.” There are pros and cons to each of these ideas, but they all have one common goal: help students get on track academically and minimize the learning loss.
What Can Parents Do?
While school districts grapple with ways to address these issues on a global scale, parents are struggling to find ways to support their children’s learning and help them stay on course. Education Week has published a guide to help identify students who have fallen behind, and suggested various interventions to help them. Schools establish the foundation with a common curriculum, and they build student engagement. When attendance starts falling, or a student is failing, there are a couple of things outside of school and the common curriculum that can help.
Acceleration Academies
These are small group sessions that take place during school vacation weeks, weekends, and summer. Schools can offer these types of programs to students who need help with math, literacy, or English-as-a-second-language. Small group sessions like this cost less than individualized tutoring, but the tradeoff is that students still don’t get much one-on-one instruction as there is one teacher for around 10 students. It’s worth looking into to find out if your school offers programs like this.
High Dosage Tutoring
This type of tutoring involves a skilled tutor (generally a teacher, paraprofessional, or paid volunteer) and consists of at least 50 hours over a semester. And these sessions are ideally 1 or 2 students. There’s a strong research base for the effectiveness of this type of intervention. It’s more expensive than other options, but the personalized attention is the best way to make substantial progress. Both schools and tutoring companies have the ability to offer programs like this.
A new study from the University of Chicago shows that individualized, intensive tutoring “can double or triple the amount of math high school students learn each year, increase student grades, and reduce math and non-math course failures.” Student learning gains persist, even a year or two after tutoring. They also found that learning gains were evident across multiple subjects, and these gains helped reduce achievement gaps from COVID-19.
Individualized Tutoring Makes the Biggest Impact
High-dosage tutoring may not be available in all school districts, but the same results are achievable privately by enrolling your child in individualized tutoring with a certified teacher. At TutorUp, all of our tutors are certified, experienced, background-checked classroom teachers who work one-on-one with students. And we have a subscription program that is ideal for semester-long tutoring support, at our lowest prices.
The evidence is in: personalized tutoring works. You can help your child end this current school year on a higher note, and be prepared for the next school year by enrolling them in one-on-one tutoring with a certified teacher who can help them achieve their academic goals.
Your child may have already returned to in-person school, either full-time or in a hybrid program that includes remote learning. If so, you may have already encountered issues you weren’t expecting. If your child is getting ready to return to the classroom, here are some ways you can make the transition easier.
Find out the details at your particular school
Staggered schedules, early or late arrival times and dismissal times, rules surrounding what to wear, what safety measures will be in place, and whether or not school gatherings like sporting events will resume, are all topics you need to get familiar with.
Students may be feeling anxious and worried about their safety, so it’s important to be reassuring about the precautions that are being taken. After a long period of isolation, it’s going to take a while for many kids to adjust to being around lots of people again.
Help kids understand what lunch and recess might look and feel like now, along with how to reconnect with other students they haven’t seen in a long time. It’s important to help them reestablish relationships with teachers and faculty, as well as with their peers.
Pay close attention to the signs your child is showing, and don’t dismiss or discount their anxieties and concerns. Encourage them to voice their concerns so you can address them.
Stay informed by monitoring all school communications. Stay connected to your child’s teacher(s) and keep up to date on safety issues, scheduling issues, homework requirements, and changes to school programs.
Remedial Instruction
It’s an unfortunate fact that many students have experienced learning loss during this past school year. Be sure to help your child understand that this is a widespread issue and is nothing to be embarrassed about. The majority of students will benefit from some type of remedial instruction or tutoring to help them get back to the levels they need to achieve academically. Some schools are administering baseline assessments to help teachers prepare for their students’ challenges, and many parents have already incorporated tutoring into their child’s learning plan.
Reinforcing hygiene and safety instructions
Many schools will have hand sanitizer available, hand-washing stations, antiseptic wipes, masks, tissues, and other hygiene supplies. Be sure your child has a personal supply of the hygiene products you use at home so they will feel safe, in case there aren’t sufficient supplies at school. Help them understand that not all students will follow the same guidelines, and they need to feel confident and comfortable about their own hygiene. Help your child cope with different scenarios they might encounter.
Be a good role model
If you are optimistic, calm, and confident, it will be much easier to encourage the same attitudes in your child. If you disagree with the policies at your child’s school, or express concerns, or seem troubled, that’s understandable, but it’s best to keep it to yourself or your child will pick up on that and it can increase their anxiety and worry.
Reestablishing bedtime and mealtime routines is a good way to help children get back in the routine of attending school in person. Many children will have developed some lax habits that will affect their behavior and attention span in the classroom.
Prepare for the unexpected
This is new for all of us. If something happens and plans change, and students are sent back home to resume remote learning, be prepared to make that adjustment. Helping your child understand in advance that plans may change will help them avoid being surprised or unduly worried about another new routine.
Zoom, Google Meet, and School in the Age of Coronavirus
There are 50.7 million students currently enrolled in public schools in the United States and when this school year began, 58% of them were learning entirely online and another 18% were receiving a combination of in-person and online instruction. That means that less than one quarter of students are learning entirely in person.
There are 50.7 million students currently enrolled in public schools in the United States and when this school year began, 58% of them were learning entirely online and another 18% were receiving a combination of in-person and online instruction. That means that less than one quarter of students are learning entirely in person.
The effectiveness of online learning varies widely, depending on the individual student, the quality of the technology available, the competency of the instructors, and the support of parents. Many students are thriving in the new environment, and are having a fairly easy time of it, but many others are struggling.
What Can Parents Do?
Unaccustomed to being so involved in their child’s education, many parents are overwhelmed with the amount of support needed by their at-home student who is learning remotely. One of the first things a parent needs to do in order to help their child succeed is to become familiar with the technology. Check out these ways you can help your student succeed with online or blended school:
Set up a Zoom call with a couple of friends or family members; try a Google Meet session, and use the computer, tablet, or other device that your child uses for school. Getting familiar with how to set up a video conferencing call can help you iron out the glitches ahead of time.
Be sure you’re receiving all communication from your child’s school and teacher(s) and show older students how to respond properly via email and how to upload/download documents. For younger students, you will probably need to manage the administrative tasks for them.
Maintaining communication with your child’s teacher(s) is especially important when learning takes place online. Teachers are generally happy to answer questions and appreciate parent feedback.
Sit in (off-camera) on a few sessions of your child’s online learning classes to get a feel for the teacher’s style, the pace, and the amount of interaction that takes place. You may be able to pick up on a few things you can recommend to help your child, and it might spark some questions you can ask the teacher later.
Create a calendar on paper that helps your student track assignments, due dates, meeting times, test dates, etc. A physical calendar is easier to view than tracking on a computer, and serves as a helpful visual reminder that helps your child organize their time.
If your child is a more tactile learner, print out assignments and worksheets, and allow them to complete these assignments off line. You can help them convert their work to online, or scan and upload their work to send to the teacher, if that is allowed.
Reduce distractions and make sure your child gets breaks away from the computer. Adults have a hard time maintaining their focus and attention for long periods of time online, and it is much harder for children.
Help your child set realistic goals to help them feel competent and accomplished. Teachers are usually good at giving positive reinforcement, but since they are not physically present, it’s helpful if you can give positive feedback to your child as well.
If it seems that your child is struggling to complete assignments, or is getting lower grades and test scores than they normally would, it may be that your child would benefit from one-on-one tutoring support with a certified teacher. Some students only need help on a short term basis in order to master a new concept or subject, and other students need more ongoing support to stay caught up with the rest of the class. If you’d like to know about the tutoring services we offer at TutorUp, please call us at 877-888-6787, or browse through our tutor profiles and let us know how we can help.
There’s a lot of focus on academic progress – or lack thereof – with students during the pandemic. The cancellation of in-person school is creating a lot of stress for students, parents, and teachers. But what is also happening is that many schools have cancelled “non-essential” extracurricular activities for students. Even schools that have returned to in-person classes, or a hybrid schedule of online and in-person, are not resuming arts programs, student clubs, student community outreach programs, field trips, museum visits, and the like.
While the COVID-19 learning loss is a real concern, it is compounded by the loss of social interaction and the enrichment that comes from participation in creative activity. Some schools are resuming sports activities, which is a great outlet for the population of students who participate, but many schools are not even doing that much.
Some activities, like speech and debate, can be translated into an online format. And some drama teachers are becoming creative, replacing scheduled productions with recording audio plays, short films, and table readings over video calls. And while this may work for some older students, it’s completely limited by the individual school district and resources available.
Creative Things for Kids to Do During COVID Quarantine
(or any time!)
Besides the inherent value of encouraging creativity in students of all ages, non-academic activities are also a wonderful break and may help students focus better when they do have to work on academics. Below are 21 great resources for artistic, creative, crafty, musical, dramatic, and other activities that you can do with your child, and help them interact with others during COVID.
Parents and educators agree that the COVID learning loss issue is real. A new report from ABC News states that “As millions of students return to virtual classrooms after the holidays, new research reveals how the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted learning and skills retention nationwide that experts say could take years to overcome.” Students are experiencing gaps in understanding, skills, and knowledge that will have far reaching impacts on their academic progress.
Margaret Raymond, director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University said, “We found that the learning loss experience was quite pervasive, that almost all students were negatively impacted by the pandemic and pivot to remote learning,” The Stanford researchers estimate that students have already lost half a year in reading and more than a full year in math learning since the pandemic began.
Sixty-six percent of teachers in one national survey, conducted by the RAND Corporation in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said their students are less prepared for grade-level work now compared to this point last year.
One-on-One Online Tutoring Helps Students Get Ahead
With kids spending a lot of time online for school, it may seem counterintuitive to suggest that they would benefit from online tutoring. The evidence, however, shows that virtual tutoring may produce the same benefits as in-person tutoring. Scientific American reports that studies show students making impressive gains after online tutoring. Author Philip Oreopoulos, Distinguished Professor in Economics of Education Policy at the University of Toronto, recently analyzed 96 randomized evaluations of different tutoring models with a group of his colleagues. They found that “80 percent of the studies led to markedly improved outcomes, with more than half of the studies reporting large gains as a result of these programs.”
To minimize the risk of face-to-face interaction during a pandemic, online tutoring programs are gaining in popularity and are proving to be highly effective. An evaluation of one online tutoring program in Italy showed that “middle school students who received three hours of online tutoring a week—over a computer, tablet or smartphone—from trained university students saw a 4.7 percent boost in performance in math, English and Italian. With six hours of tutoring support, improvement doubled.”
One of the reasons that online school is so stressful for students is because they get very little individual help and tend to be reluctant or embarrassed to ask questions in the online group setting. Older students are getting inundated with homework assignments they are expected to complete independently, and younger students are having problems staying engaged in group settings. When one teacher/tutor works with one student at a time, this problem is eliminated, and students get the personalized, direct help they need.
An experienced teacher can conduct the same high quality personalized tutoring sessions in a virtual format that they can when meeting in person. As student and teacher get to know each other and build rapport, the teacher is able to customize the learning experience to suit that student’s needs and learning style.
Find out more about TutorUp’s online tutoring services, where all of our tutors are certified, experienced, background-checked teachers who know how to teach.
