One With USC Rossier connects instructors with students

Tutoring is now on-demand thanks to a program through the Rossier School of Education.

Founded in February 2015, One With USC Rossier connects tutors from USC with parents and students, beginning in kindergarten, who are looking for academic help.

The program is an online marketplace. USC students, graduates and faculty members can all offer their tutoring services. Each tutor must take a course on tutoring pedagogy, as well as pass an assessment by a tutoring expert. The tutors have the option to conduct their lessons using an online platform, which allows them to use various features such as virtual whiteboarding, document sharing and video conferencing. The platform also gives tutors the ability to create an individualized lesson for each student, although it can be customized for small group lessons as well.

Tutors can set their own hours and rates. Twenty percent of the proceeds go back to Rossier for scholarships and other funding.

Kristen Shultz Thompson, program administrator of the office of professional development programs at the USC Rossier, said she believes anyone who understands how learning and instruction work can be a good teacher, and she encourages people who might be interested in becoming tutors to try it.

“Even if you don’t think you have the experience to be a tutor, you probably do, especially if you know how to work with and listen to people,” Thompson said.

Molly Phelan, director of operations, Adam Kliegman, product lead, and Yiwen Looi, head of marketing and growth at Noodle Partners said they agreed.

“We believe everyone in the USC community has something to teach, and there are many people in the USC community and beyond who would love to learn from them,” Phelan, Kliegman and Looi said in a joint email to the Daily Trojan.

One with USC Rossier partners with Noodle Partners, a New York-based ed-tech startup. Noodle Partners was founded by John Katzman, founder and former CEO of The Princeton Review and 2U. The company’s goal is to help colleges and universities improve learning, raise revenues and lower costs by bringing together technology and tech-enabled service organizations. Katzman sits on the board for Rossier, and USC became one of the first schools he introduced to Noodle Partners.

“It’s a true partnership,” Thompson said.

Noodle partners provided the online platform and the marketing piece, while Rossier provided training for the tutors.

Before partnering with Noodle Partners, USC Rossier had not worked with many tech-heavy companies.

“It’s an entirely new partnership. It made us reframe the way we approach learning,” Thompson said.

The first tutors were the Masters of Arts and Teaching students. Now, Rossier’s primary role is providing the training for tutors. The course teaches tutors about different features of learning and instruction. Thompson said many tutors have reported that Rossier’s training program has helped them to frame their sessions.

Benjamin Gross, one of Rossier’s tutors, recently graduated from USC with a Ph.D. in physics. After graduating, a friend told him about the tutoring program and he decided to become a tutor.

“One with USC Rossier carries a good name. A lot of people will trust it because it’s USC. I like the name recognition and the program’s network a lot,” Gross said.

Thompson said that because the program is over the internet, it is easier connect with tutors.

“What’s great about this program is that it can be completely online. If you’re looking for tutoring in Mandarin, you can be working with a native speaker in China who has been trained and can work with you one-on-one,” Thompson said.

Phelan, Kliegman and Looi said another benefit to the program is the variety; students can reach out to as many tutors as they would like to before deciding on one who is a good fit for their specific needs, and they can search for the tutors by geography, price point, subject or skill.

Currently, the program has 93 tutors, but Phelan, Kliegman and Looi said it has been a challenge to meet demand.

“Clients have a wide array of requests and we hate to turn away clients whose requests we can’t fulfill. The only way to guarantee that a great match is made in a timely way is to rapidly increase the number of tutors on the site,” the email said.

Thompson said that because USC offers so many tutoring options, it has been difficult to spread the word about why people should use the One with USC Rossier platform.

“There’s this idea of on-demand tutoring. You can be a tutor or you can receive tutoring right now. That’s what makes us different,” Thompson said.

Gross said he thinks one-on-one tutoring is going to be an enormous industry moving forward.

“There’s a lot of frustration with the old style of education. Smart kids get bored and check out and the less-advanced kids get left behind,” Gross said. “Parents who have the resources are starting to realize it’s better to hire tutors.”

Thompson said her main goal is for the tutors to be well-trained.

“My goal is to make the tutors the most qualified they can be, so that if you go onto the platform, you know you’re getting a high-quality tutor,” Thompson said.

Correction: A previous version of this article referred to the One with Rossier program. It is the One with USC Rossier program. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.