Math Tutoring in the Age of COVID

Check with any news source, and you’ll find articles about the increased demand for private tutors. Not just in math, but in every subject. However, math is the single most popular subject that students need assistance with, followed by physical science, English, and language.

Many tutoring companies are experiencing a higher interest in getting personalized help, especially in math and reading tutoring services.

The COVID “Slide”

There’s solid evidence that the quarantine and forced closing of schools has resulted in a lot of confusion and lost ground for students. The sudden switch to virtual school has caused many students to lose ground in all of the basic subjects, math included. Parents are struggling to keep up with the new routine, and many are turning to private tutors to help their kids stay on top of their daily assignments, while also trying to catch up on material they missed at the end of the last school semester.

At TutorUp, we have experienced an increased demand across the board, not just in math tutoring services, and recently we’re getting more requests for in-person tutoring. We are able to witness first-hand how private tutoring can improve student comprehension, achievement, and confidence, whether online or in-person.

USA Today reports that “Tutoring is one of the oldest forms of education. A growing body of research shows that, when done right, it’s also one of the most effective means of lifting student achievement.“ Further, they address the COVID slide like this, “The toll on students’ attainment and engagement has been dire; it will almost certainly be compounded by the usual slide in learning many kids experience over summer vacation.”

Tutoring is an Effective Strategy For Learning

The Fordham Institute has researched educational interventions, including tutoring. They found that “tutoring is one of the most powerful interventions of all… Indeed, well-structured tutoring programs can produce gains in reading or math that are equivalent to about five months of learning beyond students’ ordinary progress.”

Boosting Student Achievement and Confidence

There is a stigma attached to students who are assigned to remedial classes, or who are identified as having learning challenges. Private tutoring removes this public stigma and provides the one-on-one personalized attention students need to get up to speed with their classmates. As students reach high school, they are increasingly reluctant to ask questions in class for fear of appearing “stupid” in front of their peers. As a result, they stay quiet and fall further behind.

Dr. Robert Slavin, Director of The Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University states, “Of the single interventions that could be instituted at relatively modest cost and with quite rapid speed, tutoring stands out: The research base for its effectiveness is unusually consistent and strong, the practice is internationally endorsed, and there are many college graduates who will soon look for meaningful employment.”

Check out how much math tutors cost, including our pricing for math tutoring services at TutorUp.