Hillsborough County Schools To Provide Free, On-Demand Tutoring

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Hillsborough County Public School students in grades six to 12 are now able to access free 24/7 virtual tutoring through Paper, a tutoring platform.

This unlimited service connects high-quality tutors with students in quarantine or those who just need extra academic assistance outside the classroom.

While Paper offers tutoring via computer, students can also access this service using a tablet or telephone.

Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis believes providing the service will help bridge the technology gap, giving access to tutoring to students of all socio-economic backgrounds.

“In a diverse district of our size, many learners simply do not have access to individualized tutoring on demand. We will embark on this new program by placing knowledge directly into the hands of students at no cost to our families. Educational equity continues to be at the heart of everything we do in Hillsborough County Public Schools,” said Davis.

This program delivers on-demand tutoring in multiple languages, along with one-on-one academic support in more than 200 subjects. Tutors can aid students with homework, studying for a test and even copywriting for essays. The experts will be available online to assist students via a secure, chat-based platform.

“Paper can also provide students expert help to review college application essays, which is something families across our district may not have the resources to provide," Hillsborough County School Board chairwoman Lynn Gray said. "This is an example of how we can continue to bridge gaps in our community and support student success."

All student-tutor interactions are recorded and accessible to teachers, and Paper provides analytics that will give Hillsborough County educators insight into learning gaps and give district administrators a better understanding of where support is needed.

Paper integrates with Hillsborough County’s learning management system, Clever, which is already familiar to students and teachers from remote learning sessions during the pandemic.

“As school districts around the U.S. resume in-person instruction in the second year of the pandemic, academic support is more necessary than ever to help students who have fallen behind, but it’s a question of educational equity even outside the context of COVID-19,” said Paper CEO Phillip Cutler. “We congratulate Hillsborough County Public Schools for being the first district in Florida to get in front of that challenge by making unlimited, high-dosage tutoring available to all grade six to 12 students.”