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Online tutors in K-12

SFGate has an article about the rise of online tutoring for K-12 subjects. Tutoring is done one to one over the Internet and costs less than face to face tutoring, which appeals to many parents. Many of the tutors are in India.
Between $20 million and $25 million of the roughly $132 million spent on online tutoring -- or one-sixth -- now goes to tutors in India, Wiley said. But Indian tutors may make up an even larger share of online tutors because they are paid much less than their U.S. counterparts.
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Officials at tutoring companies that hire abroad say they check tutors' references and academic backgrounds -- Growing Stars and TutorVista require tutors to have a master's degree in the primary subject matter they teach. The one-on-one attention they offer is more effective, they say. The companies train the tutors for a couple weeks, review their performance, and solicit feedback from parents. At Growing Stars and TutorVista, tutors receive training in accent reduction and American culture -- including the rules of baseball, and popular movies and music. And TutorVista will switch tutors until the student feels comfortable, said Patricia Perry, vice president of marketing. She said the average TutorVista instructor has 10 years of teaching experience, more than any state requires for in-school tutors. TutorVista's employees tend to work from home, while instructors at Growing Stars work from its teaching center in Cochin, on the coast in southwest India. They start as early as 1:30 a.m. at Growing Stars and 4:30 a.m. at TutorVista in India.

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Isha Gulati, 8, of San Jose connects with her TutorVista instructor four or five times a week and asks her about math, science, geography and English.

"It's really fun," Isha said. "We always talk about things I really want to know."

Her tutor, Bina Joseph, 36, has worked for TutorVista for about six months, logging on from her home in Bangalore, she said by e-mail. The job gives her time to raise her family, said Joseph, who has a master's degree in English and bachelor's degrees in science and education.

Isha's mother, Charu Gulati, is a middle school science teacher who sees the benefits of both educational systems: the rigors of India and the creativity encouraged in the United States.

"She loves to know about more stuff. But I don't always have the answers or the time to answer."

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