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Whether students need extra help with their math homework or a boost in reading comprehension, one-on-one tutoring is a time-honored way to help kids succeed in school.
While parents can find great options within their local school districts, the one-on-one online tutoring services in this guide provide K-12 tutors across all states and subjects. We also avoided traditional in-person franchises in favor of services with an online focus.
Insider Reviews spoke with Teresa Lubovich, spokesperson for the National Tutoring Association and owner of Poulsbo Tutoring in Washington, and Mel Jackman, a managing director of the East Harlem Tutorial Program, to gather selection criteria for the best online tutoring services (read more about our criteria at the end of this guide). Neither expert is affiliated with any of our picks.
We also reached out to K-12 online tutoring programs across the country to see if they fit our criteria and considered whether they stand out in any one category. Here are our top five picks, as well as some wonderful programs that didn’t necessarily fit into a category.
Best online tutoring service overall: ArborBridge, from $145
ArborBridge matches highly trained K-12 academic tutors with students to facilitate learning across all subjects.
Best online tutoring service for BIPOC children: INC Education, from $65
INC is an award-winning tutoring program that gives BIPOC students agency in their personalized learning experience.
Best affordable online tutoring service: Varsity Tutors, from $50
Varsity Tutors is a vast, popular program featuring over 3,000 subjects, from basics to Mandarin to computer science.
Best online tutoring service for special education: Special Education Resource, from $275
Special Education Resource is deeply committed to serving students with a wide range of disabilities from nonverbal autism to ADHD.
Best online tutoring service for reluctant learners: Central Park Tutors, from $110
Central Park Tutors offers highly specialized services for kids who have a wide range of learning styles and needs.
ArborBridge matches highly trained K-12 academic tutors with students to facilitate learning across all subjects.
Pros: Distinguished tutors, highly personalized interactive experience, covers many subjects
Cons: Expensive, website can be difficult to navigate
Cost: $160 an hour
ArborBridge has offered national online tutoring for 10 years and is widely known for its test-prep services and top-of-the-line academic tutoring in every K-12 subject. Its instructors are specially trained to engage students through video chat platforms.
Forging deep connections over video chat is a critical skill, according to Lubovich. “The students need to feel connected to the tutor as if they were in person,” she said. “How the tutor does that through the screen to reach in and draw them out, that’s a skill — and it’s really important.”
Tutors at ArborBridge have a full online toolbox to draw from — from whiteboards to shared screens to interactive capabilities — and are constantly adjusting the tools and techniques they use to meet the unique needs of each student.
Every ArborBridge tutor graduated from a top-rated liberal arts or research university and has significant teaching experience. Beyond these requirements, tutors go through a rigorous interview process to evaluate their competence.
It also features a comprehensive student-tutor matching program for elementary, middle, and high school students.
INC is an award-winning tutoring program that gives BIPOC students agency in their personalized learning experience.
Pros: Racially inclusive, affordable, stringent process for student/tutor match
Cons: Some subjects are not available
Cost: The average cost is $65 an hour, but each family receives a unique price package depending on their needs.
INC Education is the largest online tutoring program for BIPOC students. Since 2013, Dallas-based INC Education, which stands for “It’s Not Complicated,” has expanded its program from a one-man show — founder Jay Veal — to 100 tutors in many subjects (including dance!) and 10,000 students across the United States.
Veal started as a math teacher who was frustrated by the lack of diversity in the educational field. According to studies, students have more academic success when they are taught by same-race and same-gendered teachers, yet most school teachers are white women.
“The role model effect is real,” said Jackman. “There’s so much evidence that having one teacher of the same race is enough to give the student ambition and drive. You don’t know what you can be if you don’t see it.”
The national program features a staff of more than 90 BIPOC tutors, many with master’s degrees. Veal, who delivered a TED Talk, has won several awards for the program, including the 2019 United Nations Global Leadership Award Honoree for SDG 4 Goal of Quality Education.
Before beginning instruction, INC assesses every student and treats them like “little brothers and sisters,” according to Veal. The service also incorporates each student’s parents into the process and, if needed, their school teachers. Students can choose the ethnicity and gender of their tutor, and every program is individually tailored.
Varsity Tutors is a vast, popular program featuring over 3,000 subjects, from basics to Mandarin to computer science.
Pros: Affordable, vast options, has a placement algorithm
Cons: Commission rates for tutors vary widely
Cost: $50 an hour
Varsity Tutors has over 40,000 tutors across the country and is a popular choice for parents seeking quality tutoring at an affordable price.
The service started in 2007 and has been mostly online for five years. Despite being one of the larger online tutoring programs, Varsity rigorously vets its applicants through simulations, background checks, and interviews, and has turned down tutors with perfect SAT scores if they can’t convey information in a comprehensible way.
“One of the biggest things I tell my parents is to look for someone who makes a good connection with your student,” said Lubovich. “Because it doesn’t matter if they know the math. If they don’t connect, they don’t do well.”
Varsity Tutors uses a placement algorithm to match students with tutors based on things like schedule, educational needs, proficiency, learning style, interests, and goals.
Special Education Resource is deeply committed to serving students with a wide range of disabilities from nonverbal autism to ADHD.
Pros: Personalized attention, comprehensive approach, neurodiversity welcome, singular focus
Cons: Can be expensive
Cost: The average cost for a tailored program is $275 per month, but rates can vary widely from $35 to $2,000 per month.
Special Education Resource provides comprehensive online tutoring for kids with IEPs (individualized education plans). It is deeply committed to that goal, from assessment to evaluation — while many other tutoring services provide qualified special education academic tutoring, Special Education Resource has always been singularly focused on it.
Uniquely, the tutors are all part of the staff and are not independent contractors. This is a deliberate rule meant to create a family, according to co-founder Luke Dalien. All instructors have a four-year degree in special education as well as classroom experience.
“Not everyone is equipped for special education instruction,” Lubovich said. “If a family has an IEP, they need to look for people who have been specifically trained.”
Special Education Resource creates a very individually tailored experience for each child. In fact, Dalien said he personally meets with every parent individually, multiple times.
Students undergo a thorough assessment to be matched with the right instructor and also receive a specialized learning plan. Because of this, the rates vary widely depending on the needs of the student.
Central Park Tutors offers highly specialized services for kids who have a wide range of learning styles and needs.
Pros: Run by teachers, values neurodiversity
Cons: Does not offer every subject
Cost: $110 an hour
Central Park Tutors offers K-12 homework help and academic coaching in many basic subjects like physics and history. While it serves all children, the service also offers specific methods like the Orton-Gillingham and Wilson multisensory reading systems designed for kids with dyslexia.
Many tutoring programs were launched by entrepreneurs, but Central Park Tutors was founded in 2005 by two teachers and scholars: husband and wife Mike Wallach and Susana Kraglievich. The service now has about 90 tutors on its roster, each with a master’s degree or higher.
The program’s tutors thrive on making information fun and digestible for students who have lost interest in school, or who may have depression or learning disabilities. They abide by the principles of education authors like Alfie Kohn and John Holt, who value unconditional support and respect for students.
“You want a program that will humanize the learning experience and recognize the magnificence of the children’s brains and how powerful they are,” said Jackman.
Central Park Tutors’ intake system is very thorough, with each student receiving a custom plan and well-matched tutor. Despite its name, the service has worked with students from New York to Shanghai. However, most of the tutors are trained and based in New York.
We looked at many options while choosing the best online tutoring services. Over time, we refined our criteria and had to leave off certain programs, including the following:
Not all online tutoring services are created equal, and not all of them will suit your child’s specific needs. There is an almost infinite number of programs online, and there is no one set of guidelines. Parents do have plenty of criteria to work with, though. Here’s how we evaluated the tutoring programs featured in this guide:
It’s important to look for qualified tutors who generally have a degree in their field and a background in education. Tutors might opt for certification under the National Tutoring Association or the Association for the Tutoring and Coaching Profession, but there are no laws that regulate tutors or require these certifications.
Lubovich said that two-hour sessions are rare — as they should be — because they’re pushing the absolute limit. Sessions should also include some breaks for physical movement, especially when it comes to young children.
Companies should give parents a contract complete with expectations, and they should comply with all children’s online privacy laws.
A good tutoring program looks at the whole student rather than simply their grades or test scores. Look for services that assess children in advance and deliberately match them with tutors based on expertise and personality.
Tutoring should also take into account everything that is going on in a kid’s life, such as trauma at home, not just scores. Frequent, transparent check-ins between tutors and parents are essential.
“You should be able to ask questions,” Jackman said. “What is the staff like, is the learning process transparent, can I come take a peek or see a recorded video? Parents should feel empowered.”
The holistic approach is particularly crucial for marginalized students. At a baseline, children with disabilities should be matched with specialized, qualified tutors. However, Jackman argued that tutoring companies should go beyond that by embracing diversity in every form, whether that means having a diverse staff, requiring anti-bias training among tutors, or offering discounts or equipment to lower-income students.
“It’s not just about giving kids information, but celebrating who they are,” Jackman said.
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Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at re*****@in*****.com.
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