Tutored by Teachers (TbT) Review: Services, Costs, Terms and Reviews

Tutored by Teachers (TbT) is a relatively new, yet a growing-in-popularity name in the e-learning services space. The platform offers teacher vacancy, tutoring, virtual intervention, SAT preparation, ELL support, and summer school services to school districts and charter schools focused on Math and ELA. But is TbT worth it?

This Tutored by Teachers review covers in detail the company services, staff qualifications, pricing, and terms and highlights its pros and cons. The article also summarizes reviews by existing customers to help school institutions decide if this is the right choice for their needs.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for comprehensive e-learning services used by school districts and schools across the nation, check out Fullmind.

Tutored by Teachers Overview

Tutored by Teachers (TbT) is an e-learning service provider that partners with school districts and charter schools across the US that focuses on the Math and English Language Arts (ELA) subjects exclusively. The mission of the company is to provide personalized virtual instruction to high-need students in order to close the opportunity gap in education while focusing on learning acceleration. Online instructions are delivered by experienced, US-credentialed teachers in small groups.

Shaan Akbar and Rahul Kalita founded Tutored by Teachers in 2020. The company has its headquarters in New York, NY. TbT values are based on trust, transparency, empathy, humility, ownership, seriousness, and authenticity. As a result of the outcome-based approach that the company applies, they are able to deliver double-digit academic gains for students.

Currently, TbT has a network of over 5,000 teachers. It’s not reported how many schools or students benefit from their services.

Tutored by Teachers Services

TbT delivers a number of different online education services to institutions across the nation. Tutored by Teachers works with schools and school districts and does not offer services directly to students and families. The company focuses on Math and ELA only, with no coverage of other core or elective subjects.

Tutored by Teachers provides the following services:

• Vacancy support for schools and school districts
• Tutoring for small groups of students
• Virtual intervention for skilled student groups
• SAT test prep for schools
• ELL support for students who need to improve their English-language proficiency
• Summer academy for students falling behind

Following is a detailed description of the TbT services available to school districts and charter schools:

Vacancy Support

TbT offers an interim solution for schools that face teacher vacancy problems to prevent students from falling behind compared to peers. This service includes live, real-time, online learning that is fully aligned with the school curriculum. Importantly, unlike some competitors, Tutored by Teachers uses the curriculum of each school that it partners with for an easy switch between classroom and online instructions. It should be highlighted that while this service covers grades K-12, it’s only available in Math and ELA.

What differentiates TbT from many other online education platforms is that instructions are delivered by a number of teachers to small groups instead of having a single teacher working with the entire class. This allows for customized, differentiated instruction tailored to the needs of each group. Moreover, the same teacher works with the same group of students throughout the semester/year to ensure consistency.

Math and ELA teachers are available up to 5 days a week. All instructors who fill in teacher vacancies are state-certified.

Tutoring for All

TbT designed the Tutoring for All program to deliver additional instructional support to students in an accessible format, which requires minimum intervention on behalf of the school or the district. The aim of this service is to accelerate learning.

Students can receive supplemental tutoring at school and/or at home. This can happen during school hours, after school, on Saturday, or in the summer. Once again, tutoring is available for grades K-12 but is limited to Math and ELA in terms of subjects. Instructions are delivered in small groups.

The approach of the TbT tutoring service is based on high-impact personalized instruction and focuses on the whole child for optimized outcomes. The curriculum is meant to be engaging, while scheduling is flexible.

According to data reported on the Tutored by Teachers website, in the Indianapolis Public Schools district, in the 2022-2023 school year, 70% of parents of students who received tutoring observed meaningful gains, and 80% of parents are highly likely to recommend the service.

Virtual Intervention

The Virtual Intervention program of Tutored by Teachers offers targeted, skills-based, high-dosage tutoring services aligned with Math and ELA standards. This service targets groups of smart students identified using existing data.

The virtual intervention service provides engaging, skills-based, responsive instruction based on a whole child philosophy. The program starts with a standards-aligned pre-assessment and concludes with a post-assessment that measures summative mastery and growth.

In the 2022-2023 school year, TbT delivered 118k of learning hours of virtual intervention. This resulted in a 20.9% growth in Math standards and 22.7% growth in ELA standards.

SAT Test Prep

Tutored by Teachers has the capacity to design SAT prep programs to help students prepare for the Math and the Reading and Writing sections of the new digital SAT. This is done through synchronous, virtual tutoring based on equity and skills development for all students.

This service is delivered through a partnership between the school district and TbT, and families do not incur any costs. The SAT prep tutoring is provided by experienced teachers who use College Board-aligned content and are available before, during, and after school as well as on weekends. Instructors work with small groups of up to 5 students.

ELL Support

TbT also offers high-dosage tutoring for ELL which meets the unique needs of every student. This targeted tutoring aims to help students advance their English language proficiency in order to fully access and benefit from learning opportunities in their school environment.

Tutored by Teachers provides the following types of ELL support:

• For newcomers: This includes direct English language and literacy support and development for students with significantly interrupted formal education (SIFE).
• For ELLs of various proficiency levels: This includes high-dosage tutoring based on ELL scaffolding and best practices for Math and ELA tutoring.
• For long-term ELs (LTELs): This includes academic vocabulary and skills support for achieving grade-level reading and writing proficiency and transitioning out of the EL program.

TbT offers ELL tutoring individually or in small groups based on existing ELL assessment data. Instructions are delivered by ELL-certified, multilingual instructors and are provided by the same tutor to build rapport and trust. Progress is continuously monitored via checks.

Summer Academy

The TbT Summer Academy program aims to help students cover unfinished learning and be prepared for a successful new school year. The service targets elementary and middle school students via 4-week or 5-week intensive Math and ELA courses.

The virtual summer tutoring can be delivered in school or at home and is based on customized schedules that still align with standards-focused curriculum to meet the exact needs of students. The engaging summer academy curriculum allows for social interaction and emotional support while avoiding the typical summer slide.

In the summer of 2022, a total of 130k learning hours were delivered to summer academy students. Of participating students, 82% improved their mastery of key Math standards, and 72% increased their mastery of key ELA standards.

Tutored by Teachers Staff

TbT works with more than 5,000 teachers across the US. A Tutored by Teachers review highlights that all instructors are US-credentialed in Math or ELA. In addition, 52% of staff are Ed or ELL certified. The company focuses on recruiting highly qualified and diverse teachers who get vigorously vetted before being hired. As many as 62% of tutors have a graduate degree, and the average teacher has 12 years of classroom experience. In terms of diversity, 42% of staff identify as people of color. Teachers are constantly monitored by TbT to ensure quality outcomes.

Tutored by Teachers does not mention if teachers in their network have specific experience in online instruction and whether they provide any specialized training in this regard. Moreover, it’s not clear how well instructors get integrated in the school community with respect to attending staff meetings, being accessible to students after school, and participating in parent-teacher conferences.

Tutored by Teachers Costs

There is no discussion of the TbT pricing on the company website. It’s not clear how much the fees are and what factors determine them.

Third-party sources report the cost to be $1,000-$1,999, but it’s not clarified for what number of classes/hours and for what duration.

Interested school or school district representatives need to get in touch with the Tutored by Teachers Sales team to get a custom quote.

Tutored by Teachers Terms

TbT does not specify any terms on their website. Schools and school districts need to contact the company to discuss their needs and confirm compatibility.

Tutored by Teachers Software

Tutored by Teachers does not explain what software is needed to receive their online instruction services. Students definitely need access to a device with video conferencing capabilities.

Tutored by Teachers Reviews

There are very few online reviews of Tutored by Teachers on third-party websites.

Tutored by Teachers reviews can be found on:

• Yelp: 5.0/5 stars based on 25 reviews
• Trustpilot: 2.6/5 stars based on 19 reviews
• Facebook: 92% recommended based on 7 reviews

Positive TbT reviews by parents focus mostly on the staff. According to parents, teachers are talented, experienced, encouraging, and patient. They adopt personalized approaches to fit each child’s needs and personality and have effective communication skills. Parents highlight the overall development in the skills of their children.

Meanwhile, negative reviews of Tutored by Teachers are mostly written by instructors who comment on untrustworthy practices and poor HR experiences.

Tutored by Teachers Pros and Cons

Partnering with TbT brings certain benefits and drawbacks that schools need to weigh and evaluate before deciding if this is the right e-learning provider for their needs.

Tutored by Teachers Pros

The most important advantages of TbT include:

• Comprehensive grade coverage, K-12
• Small group modules
• Expertise in Math and ELA
• US-credentialed teachers
• Focus on diversity among students and teachers
• Throughout-the-year engagement

Tutored by Teachers Cons

The main disadvantages that working with Tutored by Teachers brings are:

• Limited subject scope covering only Math and ELA
• No direct services for students and families
• No specialized training in online instruction provided to tutors
• Poor integration of instructors in the school community, including no interaction with parents
• Lack of pricing information

Tutored by Teachers Availability

Tutored by Teachers works with school districts and charter schools across the country.

The states where the TbT services are most widely used include:

• New Mexico
• California
• Colorado
• Indiana
• Georgia

The top 5 districts for Tutored by Teachers are:

• Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), IN
• Las Cruces Public Schools, NM
• Denver Public Schools (DPS), CO
• Los Angeles Unified School District (USD), CA
• Gwinnett County Public Schools, GA

Tutored by Teachers Alternatives

TbT might be a good fit for the needs of certain schools and school districts in filling vacancies or providing supplemental instruction in Math and ELA. However, the lack of other subject coverage means that educational institutions might need to resort to other e-learning service providers.

Following are the top Tutored by Teachers competitors that might be able to provide solutions to different challenges within the educational system:

Tutored by Teachers vs Fullmind

Fullmind is the top-ranked TbT alternative that delivers comprehensive online educational programs to school districts and schools across the entire US. Student satisfaction with the e-learning platform reaches 4.8/5, testifying to the high quality of services and the efficient delivery to different students.

Fullmind services cover core instruction, supplemental instruction, and virtual staffing, so the company is able to address the most pressing issues in the US educational system. Similar to TbT, Fullmind customizes the instruction content to the curriculum of each school and district, but instruction is available in all core subjects plus elective courses.

All Fullmind teachers are state-certified, diligently selected and vetted, and trained in online instruction, while many of them also hold additional certifications. Instructors get integrated within the school community and focus on real-time communication with students.

Instructions cover K-12 grade and can be delivered one-on-one, in small groups, or to whole classes, depending on the student needs and the school preferences. Fullmind works with different types of students including students with disabilities, homebound students, students in suspension, and other students with special needs.

Fullmind has a custom pricing model which depends on the purchased services to ensure the best possible price for school districts and schools.

Tutored by Teachers vs Air Tutors

Air Tutors is another competitor of Tutored by Teachers which offers e-learning services across school districts in the US.

Unlike TbT, Air Tutors is entirely focused on tutoring/supplemental instruction and does not offer core instruction or vacancy support. Services include tutoring for families (individual students), tutoring for institutions, and high dose tutoring. As a major advantage over TbT, the platform covers all basic subjects and various AP courses as well as 35 languages. Eligible grades include K-12, and instructions are delivered one-on-one or in small groups of up to 4 students.

Importantly, Air Tutors teachers are not necessarily state-licensed and online teaching trained.

Air Tutors fees are reported to be $100-$120/hour, which is rather expensive for online tutoring.

Tutored by Teachers vs Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors is a Tutored by Teachers alternative with a similar scope of services.

Varsity Tutors offers academic class instruction, tutoring, and test preparation for K-12 grade students and college students. The platform provides access to dozens of subjects including core subjects, AP courses, business, tech and engineering, humanities, languages, and others. Services can be delivered both to students/families and schools.

A main disadvantage of Varsity Tutors is that their staff is not always state-certified, and they don’t seem to be specifically trained in providing e-learning services.

The cost of Varsity Tutors services depends on the exact services, the customer, and other factors.

Bottom Line

A detailed Tutored by Teachers review shows that it might be able to help school districts and schools solve problems related to teacher vacancies and students’ needing supplemental instruction or SAT test preparation. However, the scope of services are limited to Math and ELA only, with no instruction available in other core or elective subjects. Moreover, there are very few reviews by parents and teachers which show mixed experiences and which are not enough to confirm the quality of services provided by TbT.