The South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina State Library (SCSL) announced a $1.5 million partnership to address the continuing academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership will span the next three years and is funded through the American Rescue Plan's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER). 

"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need for students, especially our students in high poverty areas of the state to access individual assistance for help with unfinished learning," said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman. "This partnership with the South Carolina State Library and Tutor.com will allow families additional, high-quality academic assistance at no cost." 

Recently released assessment data indicates a need for high-dosage tutoring for both students performing on grade level who need additional assistance and those who are having academic difficulty and are at-risk of not meeting on-time graduation requirements. 

“We are thrilled to partner with the Department of Education on providing Tutor.com to South Carolina students. Tutor.com has proven to be an effective addition to our K-12 Discus resources” said SCSL Agency Director Leesa Aiken. “Tutors meet students where they are and provide individual attention that is not rushed or judged. This approach deepens their ability to more effectively learn and retain the knowledge gained.” 

Tutor.com is available for families 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students will have access to highly-qualified tutors in over 200 subject areas. In addition to individual tutoring, Tutor.com provides a service for administering practice tests to determine if students are on the trajectory for content mastery as well as submit writing assignments for review and feedback. Further, in addition to improving grades, tutors of Tutor.com assist with time management and planning strategies.

Participants will access Tutor.com through Discus – South Carolina’s Virtual Library at www.scdiscus.org and may engage in the number of sessions needed to meet their academic goal for improvement.