In February, Denton ISD began working with a company called Varsity Tutors to provide the district’s students access to 24/7 online tutoring for free.

High-impact tutoring has provided the most positive effect for students, according to a report by Annenberg Institute at Brown University. High-impact tutoring is defined as supplementing a classroom experience and responds to individual needs for a student, according to the National Student Support Accelerator. One factor the report highlights is the importance of scheduling tutoring sessions, with the recommendation that schools provide tutoring during or immediately after school. The report also looked into online tutoring, which cites a small-scale study of an online tutoring program for elementary math. The students who received online tutoring showed greater gains on a math test than those who didn’t, according to the report.

However, the accessibility of tutoring is just one aspect that Annenberg Institute focused on. The report also looked at frequency of tutoring, group size, personnel, focus, measurement, relationships, curriculum, and prioritization.

Through the Varsity Tutors program, Denton ISD students can engage in live chat with tutors for help in English and Spanish with core subjects, including math, science, reading, and more. Varsity Tutors also gives students access to a document editor, scientific calculator, file sharing, etc.