The Sequoia Union High School District has ended its partnership with online tutoring service Paper and replaced it with Varsity Tutors for the 2024-25 school year.
The two platforms are conceptually similar, offering 24/7 live chat services and step-by-step instruction to help students with schoolwork. Varsity centers much of its promotional material around its use of artificial intelligence (AI); some of their leading features include using AI for tutor matching or lesson plans. The service is currently used in over 500 school districts across the country.
In 2023, the M-A Chronicle reported on the District’s $649,038 contract with Paper in spite of a significant lack of student engagement with the service and tutor inexperience.
Varsity, on the other hand, is completely free. The program plans to offer chat-based tutoring to California public school districts at no expense through June 2030. Anthony Salcito, the Chief Institution Officer of Varsity’s parent company, Nerdy, said in a June interview that “more than 17 years’ of investment and innovation” made the costs of this frequency of free tutoring possible.
Varsity was recently involved in a controversy with an Ohio school district for use of unfair labor practices, as there was disagreement about outsourcing tutoring slots that could have gone to teachers within the Akron district. Unlike M-A, the Akron school board was paying six-figures for its use of Varsity through a state-funded contract. Varsity has also faced numerous complaints and even lawsuits regarding carelessness in treating or hiring tutors and struggles from consumers to cancel their payments.
When initially considering tutoring services, the District looked at paid versions of both Varsity and Paper. Once Varsity announced their new no-cost model, the partnership with Paper was reconsidered. “After a small pilot of Varsity Tutors last spring, almost 80% of students either preferred Varsity Tutoring to Paper or had no preference. About half of respondents flat-out preferred Varsity, whereas only about 20% preferred Paper,” said Instructional Technology Specialist Barbara Reklis.
Last school year, only about 5% of students in the District used Paper once a month; on average, around 2% of M-A’s student population used Paper at all per month.
Through Varsity, M-A students only have unpaid access to a chat service, asynchronous essay review, and self-study lessons, which is similar to what was offered through Paper. On paid plans, Varsity offers a plethora of services and flexibility, from college essay writing to test preparation to even learning through Minecraft. Large group classes are free to all users. M-A offers no pre-paid face-to-face sessions with tutors, who apply and work remotely, and are paired with students through the use of AI. Live chat sessions operate similarly to search engines or chatbot services, and are time-limited to 45 minutes. During these sessions, students are able to use a digital whiteboard or upload materials.
Students can access Varsity by using single sign-on on the Clever portal.
