Tutor.com, one of the world's largest and most innovative online tutoring organizations, has recently released a white paper outlining recent K–12 algebra tutoring trends.
Highlights from the report include:
- Two-fold increase in algebra sessions: Unprecedented demand for algebra tutoring correlates with historically low algebra assessment scores.
- Linear equations the most-requested subtopic: Within algebra, students most frequently connect for help with linear equations, followed by the algebra-based physics subtopic of motion, force, energy, and then polynomials.
- Demand highest weekday evenings: After-school evening hours are the most-requested times for algebra tutoring; Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. is the most popular time for students to initiate a session.
- Two-fold increases in length, frequency of sessions: The number of sessions that are unusually long or frequent has risen significantly in the past year.
- Major increase in alerts about students' algebra knowledge: Tutors have issued a greater number of algebra early intervention alerts—to notify teachers and school leaders about their students' lack of prerequisite knowledge or low content mastery—than ever before.
- High student awareness about interrupted learning: Students are aware of lost learning and often cite it as a concern with their tutors and in post-session comments.
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To assist schools in delivering a multi-tiered system of support for all students, Tutor.com and its affiliate company, education services giant The Princeton Review®, are launching High-Dosage Tutoring, which will provide small group tutoring in algebra to accelerate student learning. Developed by education experts and based on the Brown University Annenberg Institute's research-based design principles, High-Dosage Tutoring provides a way for students to make rapid, significant learning gains in algebra, and for teachers to track their progress through Tutor.com's award-winning LEO™ platform. "Every student deserves the opportunity to succeed," said White. "With the relational, frequent, curriculum-based High-Dosage Tutoring model, algebra students who had previously struggled will gain the support they need to overcome interrupted learning and pursue ambitious academic and postsecondary goals."