PORTLAND, Oregon — The phones are ringing off the hook at tutoring companies nationwide. Parents are hoping to snag a private tutor for their kids, to get some in-person learning after the virtual school day is over. (Psst, if you're looking for a job and have some education experience, there's a huge hiring spree for tutors.)
KGW sent a questionnaire to 10 private tutors and tutoring companies in the Portland metro area.
Eight of them got back with answers to these questions:
What has demand been like?
100% of them used words like unprecedented, higher than normal, some are getting double or triple the number of calls they usually get.
What model of tutoring are parents asking for most?
All of the respondents say parents are mostly asking for in-person tutoring help. Either one on one, or small group pods of kids in the same grade and classes. They don't want any more computer screens in their lives and want some structure and physical presence with the material. Carl Pruett co-owns Tutor Doctor based in Portland, that has about 70 tutors on staff right now, and is looking to hire 15-20 more before fall. "Most parents are looking for two to five days a week for a cohort model. So we are providing a very deep, supplemental support. It's well beyond what we did prior, which was twice a week for an hour, one-on-one. This is up to five times a week, three hours a day with a group of five students," Pruett said.
Eric Earle founded Tutor Portland in 2015. His company uses a membership model and says, "We've had a couple of families interested in the unlimited tutoring option and thinking it would be good for someone to sit for three or four hours a day while the child is going through virtual school, especially for kids are who in elementary school and making sure they're understanding what's going on, they're getting into their classes, they're getting their work done. For kids who are a little bit older and more mature, it's kind of an hour or two here and there. How can we get this assignment done? You know parents are saying we're struggling with this certain algebra topic, how can we learn those equations?"
How much does it cost?
Tutoring pods of between 3-5 students are usually all on a group rate....each child's family paying between $25-$40 an hour. One on one, in-person tutoring is more expensive, we got answers ranging from $49-$115 an hour. Online-only, one on one tutoring starts as low as $53 an hour.
Mark Seker is the other co-owner of Tutor Doctor and talked about the health/safety guidance they're using saying, "For the in-person services, we require Covid-compliant conditions. So families are completely prepared to provide masks for their kids, have social distancing by virtue of a large physical space."
Do they go to students, or do students come to them?
Of the 8 tutoring companies we heard back from:
- 3 of them have students come to their office.
- 2 allow tutors to go to your house.
- 3 are doing online-only sessions, with the possibility of in-person in the future depending on Covid case counts.
Millie Polzin will be a junior at S.W. Portland's Wilson High school. Her mom Aimee Milne has been doing the same research as so many other parents around the country, into in-person tutoring pods to supplement virtual classes. "Obviously, one-on-one teaching is very effective, but I like the pod because the students can learn from each other, which is really great, which is kind of what happens in the classroom often. Then financially it's a better way to go. So, it's $40 per an hour versus $150 an hour," Milne told KGW.
This is how they'll structure their pod, through Larson Tutoring & Test Prep, (because at this point, it's a design-your-own thing): Millie and about 3 of her classmates who've partnered up for this, will go to the tutoring center in Multnomah Village and sit outside on a covered patio, wearing masks, at desks at least 6 feet apart.
They will meet with the tutor for a couple hours on Sundays, and the tutor will help them through pre-calculus to start, then if science or English help is needed later in the virtual year....they could add another tutoring day.
Once bad weather and cold hit, those patio meetups would move online. Some tutoring companies go to you, others-- you go to them, some are fine with teaching inside like a garage, basement or bonus room...others mandate it be outdoors.
"I'm excited to have those pods, just so I can get some light social interaction while doing school that'll be fun," Polzin laughed.
Virtual learning is harder for younger kids to stay on task with no structure to their day. For the older ones, it's easier to fall behind on skills and concepts. Parents, you're working too and you're suddenly the bad guy, nagging about getting online and homework. If you can find like-minded families who can afford to split the cost, calmer evenings could be had by putting that responsibility on a tutor.
"If a student has foundational gaps, we will fill those gaps," explained Pruett of Tutor Doctor. "If they need pre-teaching for the next school year, we will do that. If they need enrichment. If we have a student that's well above academic grade level, we will meet them so that they're challenged and have a positivity about school."
Eric Earle says he started Tutor Portland originally named as Mentor Portland. As he was tutoring young students, he realized at the time, he was only a couple years ahead of the high schoolers and was really able to provide a mentorship and empathy about learning and difficulties. "Tutoring help makes you start to get confident at something that was hard for you. You start to get good at math and science, and then you start to believe, Hey I could learn anything. I could do anything else because you know, this math used to be so hard for me and now I've gotten good at it," Earle said.
1) Tutor Doctor
- Doing in-person tutoring at the student's home with masks and distancing.
- Group rates start at $22 per student, per hour depending on size and how many hours a week.
- One on one tutoring is $49 per hour
- 85+ tutors
- Doing in-person, outside or inside, tutoring at the student's home with masks and distancing.
- Group rates for in-person: $37 per student, per hour.
- Online tutoring group help is $18 per student, per hour.
- One on one is $85-$89 an hour
- Parents can also use individual tutoring sessions for both of their children at the same time, at no extra cost.
- 3 math and science tutors, 1 English and Spanish tutor.
- Doing in-person, outside-only pods or one on one sessions at tutoring center in Multnomah Village.
- Group rate $35-$40 per student, per hour.
- One on one in-person or online $80-$90 per student, per hour.
- Online only for now, possibly in-person in the future.
- $53 online, one on one session per hour.
- Doing in-person tutoring at their offices, or online.
- One on one is $115 per student, per hour
- Group rates start at $395 for 6 hours of instruction. Small group tutoring, or pods, start at $85/hour for two students.
6) Mathnasium
- Online sessions with a limited in-person sessions at their locations.
- Focus is entirely on math
- Inquire for prices
Community resources for free learning help: