One of the greatest benefits that technology has afforded us is the ability to provide truly personalized educational experiences for all students. At IEM schools, families work directly with one of our education specialists to develop individualized learning plans that students and families then carry out at home. All our education specialists are California-credentialed teachers, and all our schools are Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)-accredited. Parents and caregivers work with an education specialist to select an individualized curriculum, and the specialist additionally recommends materials, resources, and supportive instruction using real-life environments to enhance the learning experience.

Our schools work with a wide variety of vendor partners that provide learning materials, instruction, classes, and tutoring. As the federal programs and intervention coordinator for the Sky Mountain, Ocean Grove, and South Sutter Charter Schools, I am responsible for ensuring that our students are reaching their full academic potential. The first step is making sure that they have individualized plans and goals in place. Then, my colleagues and I ensure that students have the resources and support they need to navigate their own roadmaps for success.

Everyone Learns Differently

Knowing that not every student learns the same way, we emphasize individualized instruction. At the start of each school year, we meet with our families and students, and we set learning goals for them based on their academic areas of need, their interests, and the curriculum and the style of learning that works best for each student.

Every parent or caregiver can choose the curriculum that works best for their student—and they have a lot of options. Ideally for the short term, we want students to progress and grow, whether they are three years behind or three years ahead of the rest of their class. We also want them to be challenged and learning in an individualized and unique manner that aligns with their educational goals.

Why use online tutors?

We started using our online tutor because our students are typically being taught by their parents at home, but not everyone is an expert in everything. Middle school and high school math and science, for example, can be especially challenging to teach. A lot of our students are also in college courses and may need help with their advanced work. Writing too is an area in which students often benefit from tutoring.

Here are four ways we’re using online tutoring to deliver personalized learning and improve student educational outcomes:

1. Tutoring covers a broad range of subjects and expertise. Our education specialists are credentialed teachers, and they are great at a lot of things, but no one person is an expert at everything. (Same goes for parents) These professionals are specialists in K–12 education, so there are areas, especially for college-level curricula, where students benefit from access to higher education instructors. Online tutoring meets that need for a lot of our students. We really had the intent of bringing it in for our Tier II and Tier III students to make sure they could have access to a credentialed professional or expert, but we have found that our students on or above grade level are benefiting just as much. Now, students can get feedback on their writing, submit physics questions, or turn to the platform for whatever type of help they may need at the moment.
2. Supports students who don’t always need extra help. Our online tutoring platform has become a tool that our Tier I students have latched onto and are benefitting from. These kids don't qualify for every type of available support, and they also don't need consistent tutoring. What they do need is five minutes with somebody to ask, "Hey, am I doing this right?" or "Can you help me? I'm stuck on this step." Our online tutor partner has really helped fill in those gaps for us.
3. Helps kids excel in the classroom. Students who use online tutoring regularly tend to turn in more assignments and they are passing their courses because they’ve had that extra help. We noticed the biggest difference in summer school, where students work through a curriculum at a quick pace, covering a semester's worth of work in just a few weeks. We're seeing more students do more work in that short period of time because they have that consistent online tutoring help.
4. Can be used anytime, anywhere. A lot of our high school students enjoy working the “night shift” and will often seek help in the middle of the night. Most of our platform utilization happens during the school day, when kids are typically working, but we do have those who also enjoy getting help at times when everyone else is asleep or busy with after-work activities.

Choices Are Important

Our ultimate goal is for students to be able to get the educational support they need when they need it, so online on-demand tutoring has been very helpful. And because our families prioritize having academic choices, our online tutoring program has been able to provide them with support that is personalized, and integrates perfectly with the rest of their education.

About the author

Angie Covil is the federal programs and intervention coordinator for the Sky Mountain, Ocean Grove, and South Sutter Charter Schools at Innovation Education Management in Placerville, CA.