Last year, as part of its ongoing support of Live Homework Help, the Library Foundation secured funding to send outreach specialist Yago Cura into the Los Angeles public schools, non-profits, and family source centers to educate a wider audience about how students can reap the many benefits of this online tutoring program. The good news? The outreach has worked!
This past fall when students returned to school after word spread about Live Homework Help, the numbers of tutoring sessions were record-breaking. In September alone the program increased by 47 percent—over 4,500 tutoring sessions took place—the highest number for any month in the history of the five-year-old program. But then October surpassed those numbers, then November surpassed October with 5,600 sessions—an astounding 54 percent increase in usage in comparison to 2011.
Today the program continues to grow. No other free tutoring service like this is offered in the city, and in a still-recovering economy and struggling public schools, students need this resource now more than ever. In the fall of 2007, the Los Angeles Public Library began offering this online tool to enhance its in-house youth literacy and reading enrichment programs.
Since its inception, over 130,000 tutoring sessions have taken place in libraries, schools, homes, Starbucks, anywhere that a student needing help with math, science, social science, or English has online access. It’s the perfect blend of having the flexibility to work remotely while gaining the individual attention and expertise of a highly-trained professional tutor. For free, anyone (K-12, college freshman, as well as adult learners) with a library card, can log-in to the website and work with a tutor every day of the week between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
“I’ve heard so many people who have used this service have become more confident about their homework assignments, and they are more likely to complete their homework,” says Dawn Coppin, who oversees the Library Foundation’s funding for the program. Post-program surveys backup these success stories with statistics, showing that 94 percent of users say they have received higher grades after their tutoring. For a region that has one of the lowest graduation rates in the nation, this is no small feat.
The Library Foundation is working hard to secure additional funding to keep up with the expanding program, which is now also accessible through smart phones, tablet computers, or any other Internet-enabled device.
Please help spread the word about these great resources at the library. You can also support Live Homework Help* by donating to the Library Foundation here.
*If you want to donate specifically to Live Homework Help instead of general Library Foundation support, please give through the same donation link above, but in the comments section of the form include “designated for Live Homework Help.”
