They have devices from FCPS and FCPS distributed mi-fi devices to kids who didn’t have reliable internet at home. You sound like someone who has no familiarity with FCPS.

But on the other hand, we just went through a very extended period of "get your schooling on the internet!" and the primary lesson from that was that mainly the students who got noticeable benefit out of online school were the ones who weren't struggling, and students who were going to be struggling even in an in-person setting got bupkis from online school.

And in many cases, the kids who would benefit the most from tutoring have the least access when it is only available online--kids in high-poverty schools whose families primarily access the internet through parent phones, for example.

Required after-hours tutoring for students below a certain level in reading or math--with transportation available--would get a lot more takers than tutor.com in my opinion. But that's way more expensive than an online subscription to tutors who haven't even been minimally trained by the school system to be familiar with their approaches.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

They made a mess of it by keeping kids out of school for so long so no, we are not in the mood to be “understanding”

LOL. We spent all of last year trying to keep your kids from leaving class to roam the hallways with their friends and fight in the bathrooms, and this year we can't even get a large number of them to attend regularly enough to pass their classes. The "kept schools closed" argument is a cheap scapegoat whose time has passed.

I don't blame teachers for closing schools - it seemed like a good idea at the time. But I think many people are discounting the extreme and long-lasting effects it had on children, teens, and adults.

My grandparents never recovered from the Great Depression. I don't discount the trauma of the short overall period of time of closures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

They made a mess of it by keeping kids out of school for so long so no, we are not in the mood to be “understanding”

LOL. We spent all of last year trying to keep your kids from leaving class to roam the hallways with their friends and fight in the bathrooms, and this year we can't even get a large number of them to attend regularly enough to pass their classes. The "kept schools closed" argument is a cheap scapegoat whose time has passed.

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering if this would work. Use peer tutoring. A group of peer tutors can be supervised by an adult teacher/tutor. That way, you don't need a whole huge number of teachers, and the kids can a) gain a skill, and b)get some volunteer hours (which they need anyway).

For instance, my MS DD has been helping out a couple of friends with math during their spare time - recess, lunch, certain electives. She says their problems are foundational - lack of computational fluency, not understanding concepts such as fractions, decimals, percentages, and their interchangeability, and so on. She has reached out to her math teacher to say that she's available to help anyone that needs it, but kids aren't approaching teachers with their needs.

I'm willing to bet there are thousands of kids out there that would be happy to spend some of their free hours to help out their peers (or younger kids), but there is no official mechanism to match up kids needing help with kids willing to help.

Most (all?) high schools do this. A requirement for honor society memberships everywhere I’ve taught is hours tutoring. I spend a decent chunk of time each week coordinating schedules for kids to meet in my room during 4th period, lunch, or after school for math hours.

Just wondering if this would work. Use peer tutoring. A group of peer tutors can be supervised by an adult teacher/tutor. That way, you don't need a whole huge number of teachers, and the kids can a) gain a skill, and b)get some volunteer hours (which they need anyway).

For instance, my MS DD has been helping out a couple of friends with math during their spare time - recess, lunch, certain electives. She says their problems are foundational - lack of computational fluency, not understanding concepts such as fractions, decimals, percentages, and their interchangeability, and so on. She has reached out to her math teacher to say that she's available to help anyone that needs it, but kids aren't approaching teachers with their needs.

I'm willing to bet there are thousands of kids out there that would be happy to spend some of their free hours to help out their peers (or younger kids), but there is no official mechanism to match up kids needing help with kids willing to help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

They made a mess of it by keeping kids out of school for so long so no, we are not in the mood to be “understanding”

Yes, I know. Honestly, seek therapy if it was that bad.

Exactly, the building have been re-opened for a year and a half. That’s longer than they were out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best and easiest plan of action was for FCPS to temporarily extensively offer summer school (essentially 11 month teacher contracts). Students who didn't want to or need to attend these schools would not need to but otherwise it would be widely available.

What happened is that summer school was a last minute rush so parents had already made plans like camp, etc. We were told our children could attend summer session a week before the school year ended. We had already spent thousands in camps/daycare, so it was a no for us, but I imagine many parents were in the same boat.

My view is summer school notices and plans should be firms set BEFORE spring break not the week before school ends.

The staffing for the doesn't exist.

A pony would be more feasible.

Actually, FCPS did run various schools on a year round calendar. They cut it for cost saving during the 2008 recession when property tax revenues went in the crapper.

Operationally, this is definitely possible. They would need to pay in alignment with the teacher's actual salary (so based on the experience/education of the teacher instead of a low flat payment). But if they did this and told me to plan for this now, I could easily fully staff a summer program in my school for every student that is struggling or wants summer learning.

I had one week to plan for this last year. Staffing, identifying students, and figuring out schedules. In the middle of SOL remediation and re-takes, end of the year IEP meetings, etc. So, it was a mess.

I've asked for more lead time, but the answer has been stalling from my supervisors.

-Elem. principal.

Year round school of the style that people push around here -- small breaks throughout the year instead of a long summer break -- keeps getting tried. Generally the school districts which implement it don't see any gains and eventually wind up back on the traditional three-season school plan because of coordination problems.

The much less popular alternate approach of "year-round school" which adds a huge number of extra school days into the calendar, is very expensive and not popular, but does seem to provide a level of educational gains.

What I would like to see tried is the old New York City system -- year round school, but children start at different places on the calendar, so some students enter in Fall, others Winter, etc. This means that students who needed to be held back could just repeat a quarter, potentially getting back with their original group by continuing during their "time off". Less need to redshirt, because summer birthday children simply start school with other summer birthday children. Students who need mild acceleration could just jump ahead by one or two quarters, instead of skipping an entire year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

On the one hand, yes, you're right, this is a new program. Maybe things will get better.

But on the other hand, we just went through a very extended period of "get your schooling on the internet!" and the primary lesson from that was that mainly the students who got noticeable benefit out of online school were the ones who weren't struggling, and students who were going to be struggling even in an in-person setting got bupkis from online school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

They made a mess of it by keeping kids out of school for so long so no, we are not in the mood to be “understanding”

Yes, I know. Honestly, seek therapy if it was that bad.

I agree. You’ll only end up venting your anger at the wrong people - the ones who could help you - if you’re expecting some systematic redress of wrongs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in Loudoun County and have found it to be successful with students and a much needed service! The demographic is perhaps different but I do not understand a parent complaining about a service such as this being offered. The goal is to reach students that do not have the financial ability to seek out private tutoring and the services are made available 24/7. This is a free opportunity..if it does not meet your needs then you may choose to not utilize the services. If your student needs more or different services then this is not for you. The attitudes of Fairfax County never cease to amaze me.

What grade do you teach? If my kid was in middle or high school and had assigned homework, I might have felt differently. But I don't know how Tutor.com could help my ES child who is struggling to catch up in writing and basic math principles.

Have you tried it?

Yes. I'm the PPer and someone asked this previously. We did try it. As I noted previously.

I am wondering if the quality of services provided depends on which tutor you get - you might luck out and get a better one next time, but for $12 bucks an hour, I can’t imagine the pool is that great. Unfortunately, I fear this is what you can expect from teacher pools in the near future, too. The corporate topdown model that retains a ever growing , overpaid, undereducated, and self-interested administrative class (let’s face it, these EdDs are bullcrap) is killing the system. It’s happening in the medical field too. The ethically-challenged average IQ people are raking it in as hospital admins while squeezing the medical staff who work for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was only rolled out on April 14 of SY 2021-22. Is that even two months? Maybe it's a total failure but it seems premature to say so now.

+1. My God.

FCPS introduces a measure to address learning loss - an unprecedented event - it doesn't go well for the first quarter and then people are screaming failure. Give it a chance. One issue we have run into is a tutor not being available at a desired time. I don't know if that's a widespread problem though.

They made a mess of it by keeping kids out of school for so long so no, we are not in the mood to be “understanding”

Yes, I know. Honestly, seek therapy if it was that bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in Loudoun County and have found it to be successful with students and a much needed service! The demographic is perhaps different but I do not understand a parent complaining about a service such as this being offered. The goal is to reach students that do not have the financial ability to seek out private tutoring and the services are made available 24/7. This is a free opportunity..if it does not meet your needs then you may choose to not utilize the services. If your student needs more or different services then this is not for you. The attitudes of Fairfax County never cease to amaze me.

What grade do you teach? If my kid was in middle or high school and had assigned homework, I might have felt differently. But I don't know how Tutor.com could help my ES child who is struggling to catch up in writing and basic math principles.

Have you tried it?

Yes. I'm the PPer and someone asked this previously. We did try it. As I noted previously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in Loudoun County and have found it to be successful with students and a much needed service! The demographic is perhaps different but I do not understand a parent complaining about a service such as this being offered. The goal is to reach students that do not have the financial ability to seek out private tutoring and the services are made available 24/7. This is a free opportunity..if it does not meet your needs then you may choose to not utilize the services. If your student needs more or different services then this is not for you. The attitudes of Fairfax County never cease to amaze me.

What grade do you teach? If my kid was in middle or high school and had assigned homework, I might have felt differently. But I don't know how Tutor.com could help my ES child who is struggling to catch up in writing and basic math principles.

Have you tried it?

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS email from today states that Tutor.com will review papers and give quizzes. Is this true?

Does your child need homework help or feedback on writing? How about a practice quiz to get ready for a test? Tutor.com is open to FCPS students in all grades, on demand, 24/7, at no cost to families! Tutors are available in multiple languages. Learn more.

The Tutor.com employees are paid $12 an hour. They are not creating custom quizzes, but maybe Tutor.con has a database of basic math quizzes. .