Frequently Asked Questions

We have a diverse group of 100+ tutors and education professionals in our network, including certified teachers and retired teachers. 

Our tutors are skilled at creating a safe learning space, uplifting student spirits, and closing the learning gap.

All tutors are from the United States, have passed background checks, and are well-versed in our unique teaching methodology.

Students learn best when they develop a long-term relationship with a tutor who knows them well, cares for them, and gives them the personal attention they need. This is key to academic achievement, as well as social-emotional learning.

Social-emotional learning and positive psychology are core guiding principles in all our work. According to CASEL, integration of SEL and academic instruction is key to promoting SEL, and research shows that SEL is closely linked to improvement in academic performance.

Additionally, a whole-child educational philosophy is key to our approach. We begin each session with artistic inspiration: a poem, song, movement exercise, and/or story grounded in wisdom. This engages the whole child in learning: “head, heart, and hands.” 

Yes! All our tutoring programs are custom-tailored to your students and your school's specific needs. 

Personal attention from a tutor is key to helping students learn, as most students feel lost in a large classroom of 20 to 30 students. With Common Ground Tutors, students are grouped by skill level into small cohorts and get the personal attention they need in order to succeed academically. Exactly how many students there are per cohort depends on the customized tutoring curriculum we create for your students.

Our tutoring is virtual, and in the best possible way: live, synchronous, and video-based. This allows us to keep our cost low and connect you with qualified tutors who can meet your specific scheduling needs.

We customize our tutoring solutions to the specific needs and budgets of your school. Many schools pay for tutoring programs through ESSER funds, Title I funds, and a variety of other government funds and grants. Some schools ask for students to pay a portion or all of the tutoring fees. 

Yes! Many of our tutors are bilingual and speak a variety of languages, including Spanish. In case your students speak a specific language and we don't have tutors who speak that language, we do our best to find tutors that do. 

According to the National Student Support Accelerator:

“Tutoring is a form of teaching, one-on-one or in a small group, towards a specific goal. High-impact tutoring leads to substantial learning gains for students by supplementing (but not replacing) students’ classroom experiences.

High-impact tutoring responds to individual needs and complements students’ existing curriculum. We recognize high-impact tutoring programs as those that either have directly demonstrated significant gains in student learning through state-of-the-art research studies or have characteristics that have proven to accelerate student learning.

These characteristics of high-impact tutoring programs currently include: substantial time each week of required tutoring, sustained and strong relationships between students and their tutors, close monitoring of student knowledge and skills, alignment with school curriculum, and oversight of tutors to assure quality interactions.”

If your school, nonprofit, or education company is interested in boosting student test scores and graduation rates, then our tutoring programs may be exactly what you've been looking for.

There's overwhelming evidence that tutoring is effective.

A meta-analysis of tutoring interventions from the last few decades found that “on average, tutoring increased achievement by roughly an additional 3 to 15 months of learning across grade levels.”

To see a few of our favorite studies, please visit our Outcomes page.

We have our own curriculum for SAT/ACT prep and college counseling. We use your school's curriculum for Math and ELA tutoring. Our tutoring program is custom-designed so that it’s aligned to your needs. This ensures that we’re supporting your teachers and helping students by reinforcing what’s taught at school. 

Research shows that frequent, consistent tutoring is a key determinant in improving student learning and test scores. SAT/ACT Tutoring and College Admissions Workshops are offered after school, on weekends, and during breaks. High-dosage tutoring students meet at least 3 times a week for 45 minutes during the school day to maximize student attendance and engagement. 

A Harvard study reviewing 200 experiments in improving education showed that "less frequent tutoring, such as weekly sessions, under-performed many other types of educational interventions.

According to the study, high-dosage tutoring was 20 times more effective than low-dosage tutoring in math. In reading, high-dosage tutoring was 15 times more effective than low-dosage tutoring."

Our SAT/ACT Tutoring and College Admissions Workshops are offered in small groups on a long-term basis, which ensures 9th-12th grade students develop relationships with their tutors and get the personal attention they need. This is different from most after school tutoring programs, which are optional and depend on students reaching out for help whenever they feel the need.

Our high-dosage tutoring programs for K-8 students are conducted during the school day. This has been shown to have the most attendance and engagement.

Evidence is showing that the students who need tutoring the most do not take the initiative to use such programs.

Also, most of these tutoring programs are via text messaging and do not help the student develop relationships with their tutors. 

We believe strongly, and the research supports this, that a strong tutor-student relationship is key to social-emotional learning and academic achievement. 

Our tutoring programs are funded by schools, nonprofit organizations, and scholarships for families that cannot afford the tutoring fees. 

Thus, students whose families cannot afford private tutoring are not left out. 

This levels the playing field in one important way that can make a huge difference in a child's life. 

There are many stories of students who were under-achieving, but after tutoring they were not only "average", but "above average" and sometimes even in accelerated programs!

We custom-design programs suited to your timeline and budget. However, the research shows that in order to see real change in student academic performance and test scores, tutoring for an entire academic year is best.

We have grants and scholarships available if you're unable to pay. Please ask for more details.

We use informal pre-tests, post-tests, and daily quizzes to ensure that students are learning in alignment with your school's curriculum and state standards.