The service was launched in mid-August and is available to any DCPS student.
The service runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Jana Beth Francis, DCPS’ assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the tutoring is only for DCPS students.
They must use their school-issued computers to access the service. “This is our example of responding to a parent request,” Francis said earlier this week.
The idea came from members of the district’s family advisory council, she said.
“(Parents said), ‘We feel like, with all the technology opportunities, there would be a way to provide some homework help at night,’” Francis said. “We said, ‘Okay, let us go back to the drawing board and see if we can do it.’ I was so thankful we were able to get input from families. We definitely need that two-way communication.”
The service is staffed by DCPS teachers.
“We have teachers from all across the district participating,” Francis said. “They’ll sign up to work one or two hours a month, or one or two hours a week.”
Students were informed of the service at the beginning of the year and were given magnets containing a QR code to access the homework system.
“We had a soft launch; we didn’t do a lot about it, because with anything new with technology, you want to make sure it works,” Francis said. “It has been working well, and we encourage families, when they have a (homework) question, to reach out.”
The tutoring is face-to-face through Google Meet. Because teachers are not experts on all subjects, part of the service will include providing resources to help a student master the material.
“Sometimes, the work can get really challenging, so what we’re quick to do is, if we get a really complicated chemistry problem, we might have to get back to you, or we might have to get in touch with somebody else,” Francis said. “Most of our teachers have those resources.
“Most parents can find resources online, but the difference the teachers have is they know how to get to them faster.”
The district will track how often the system is used. But Francis said, “We heard from enough parents that they thought this was a good idea that this was worth trying.”
The idea is to help not just answer specific homework questions, but to help students master the material, Francis said.
“At the end of the day, we don’t just want to give answers,” she said. “We want to teach that student.”
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