Mississippi Makes Online Tutoring Available to K-12 Students ON-DEMAND

Since March 2022, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has offered online, on-demand tutoring for all K-12 students through Paper, an online tutoring service that self-describes as “individualized support to help [students] solve problems, explore new ways of learning and chart their own path to success ”

The service is paid for with Elemen- tary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that became available after three different federal laws were passed during the pandemic to assist schools in continuing quality education for students

Between March and May of this year, almost 117,000 students statewide engaged in tutoring services through Paper Engagement varies by county and district, and educators hope spreading the word about on-demand tutoring among teachers, parents and families will increase engagement over the remaining months of the contract (MDE’s agreement with Paper runs through September 2024 )

Dr Marla Davis, associate superintendent and academic liaison at MDE, said Paper’s services offer many benefits to students

“For one, there’s the privacy aspect,” Davis said “Not every student feels comfortable asking questions in class; sometimes they don’t even know what questions to ask until later� Paper helps students figure out what questions they need answered The tutors are great — they don’t provide the answers, but they will stay in a session with a student as long as is needed ”

Davis also pointed out that the sessions do not have a time limit or a limit in number Students can reach out to a tutor anytime, and the tutor will work with the student until the student’s needs are met

“[The tutors] ask probing questions to get the students to the final response,” Davis explained� “This helps students build transferable skills that help with other assessments, other content areas and even other life situations ”

This patient approach to tutoring is a large part of Paper’s company philosophy CEO Phil Cutler said, “We encourage tutors to be empathetic — the students coming on [for tutoring] — they are being vulnerable in a way, so we work hard to give them patience and understanding ”

A Tailored Experience

Beyond tutoring sessions, Paper also offers game-style tutoring in the form of Math Missions and essay and peer reviews, as well as reviews of college essays and résumés for older students Over the past year, Mississippi students have completed over two million activities�

One Mississippi sixth grader said Paper’s on-demand tutoring has helped him learn new math topics faster “When my math teacher introduced the class to base x height, it took me two weeks to learn how to do it, but when I learned variables on Paper, it only took me three days to master it� Paper is very helpful,” he said

A West Point Consolidated School District fifth grade writing teacher said, “Paper has been such a rewarding experience for my students in writing Seeing the excitement on their little faces after receiving feedback became the highlight of every day They have truly shown growth in writing thanks to the diligent, dedicated team at Paper ”

A Hands-On Endeavor

Melissa Banks, MDE’s director of digital learning, has worked with the department’s digital learning coaches (DLCs) and Paper’s customer success managers (CSMs) — all of whom were once Mississippi educators — to make sure Mississippi students’ unique needs are met� The DLCs act as a liaison between the Paper CSMs and schools, providing training and sup-

Port To Teachers As Needed

“As soon as the coaches present Paper, the principals and teachers are excited [about the prospect of on-demand tutoring],” Banks said�

Despite the excitement among educators, MDE is still working to raise awareness in classrooms so students and teachers can ask for what is needed and promote the service with even more parents and families

Scott County Superintendent Alan Lumpkin said, “Paper’s customer success team has been with us every step of the way — through training, implementation and follow-up — to ensure we are reaching our full potential with this amazing resource ”

So far this year, feedback from parents and teachers has resulted in two new components to Paper’s platform, especially for Mississippi’s students: voiceto-text for students who have not mastered the keyboard and capabilities for a math keyboard that helps students com- plete math homework without having to search for difficult-to-find symbols

Cutler says Paper’s commitment to responding to feedback is one of the biggest benefits of a partnership with the company

Advancing Equity

In addition to added capabilities within the platform, MDE has hosted parent nights and digital teacher academies to spread the word about the program and make the services more accessible

A Quitman County parent said “[Paper] has been very helpful to all of us� I love how the tutors are real and available at all times I have seen more confidence in my children as they use Paper and start to understand and grasp the concepts ”

Davis says parent nights and webinars were particularly helpful for English learners (ELs) and their parents who sometimes have more questions and need additional language support

“Paper tutoring itself is helpful with

EL students as well because the student may not understand something in class — there may be a culture or language barrier with certain phrases in the lesson not translating into the student’s native language easily — but the tutors are able to help quickly and in a private environment that helps the student feel comfortable asking what they may not in class,” Davis said

Cutler says the company’s focus on equity is what drew MDE to contract their services Paper’s focus on helping every student succeed, not on one particular assignment, but in other life challenges, even led them to acquire MajorClarity — the platform Mississippi uses to help middle schoolers find a career path — after hearing acclaim for it during an online meeting

“Paper is not just tutoring It helps students become contributing members of society Paper’s role in that is to give support and resources [that encourage student success],” Cutler said

The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) 2021-22 Superintendent’s Annual Report has been released detailing how academic progress has been made as MDE designated more than $96 million in federal funds to help students, schools and districts recover from pandemic disruptions to learning View the report online at mdek12 org/superintendent2022

Report highlights:

• Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) scores for 2021-22 show student achievement exceeded pre-pandemic levels with the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced reaching an all-time high of 42 2% in English Language Arts (ELA) and 55 9% in science, and reaching 47 3% in mathematics, just shy of the pre-pandemic rate of 47�4%�

• The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores show Mississippi students are maintaining historic gains in fourth grade reading

• MDE contracted with a staffing agency for $1 8 million to expand its Licensure Call Center with longer hours and additional customer service representatives to better assist prospective and current educators

• MDE’s Mississippi Teacher Residency (MTR) program granted $9 8 million to five universities: Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University to cover tuition and expenses for up to 200 individuals seeking a graduate degree in elementary and secondary education

• A record high of 10,534 public school students took 14,788 Advanced Placement exams with 5,573 exams earning a qualifying score

• Graduation rate reached an alltime high of 88 4%

• Dropout rate reached a record low of 8 5%

• MDE procured tutorial services through PAPER for $10 7 million that provide students in grades 3-12 with online access to ELA and mathematics tutors 24 hours a day, seven days a week

• The percentage of students participating in dual credit courses rose from 6 6% in 2016 to 13 8% in 2022

• The total number of Early Learning Collaboratives (ELCs), which provide high-quality early childhood education pre-K programs to 4-year-old students, increased to 35 through August 2022

• MDE partnered with the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) to create a telehealth delivery system within K-12 schools to provide remote health care and health care provider access to students

• MDE piloted Mississippi Beginnings: Pre-K curriculum to support any preschool teacher in providing rich, playbased, intentional, developmentally ap- propriate instructions�

• MDE used $12 7 million of federal funds to begin modernizing the Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) that was created in 2000

• Four schools were named 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools

Mississippi schools and districts earned new accountability A-F grades for the first time since 2019� Accountability grades help teachers, school leaders, parents and communities know how well local schools and districts are serving students Though the 2021-22 grades should always be viewed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 81% of schools and 87% of districts are now rated C or higher