Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who understand IEP goals and can reinforce the strategies outlined in your child's plan. Before starting, you can share your child's IEP, learning style, and specific areas of focus—whether that's reading comprehension, math computation, organization, or social skills. Tutors work collaboratively to complement classroom instruction and help your child make measurable progress toward IEP objectives.

Students often struggle with processing speed, working memory, attention regulation, decoding text, or mathematical reasoning—challenges that can widen gaps over time in a large classroom setting. San Jose's average student-teacher ratio of 22:1 means students may not get the individualized practice and feedback they need to master foundational skills. Personalized tutoring addresses these specific barriers with repetition, multi-sensory strategies, and frequent assessment to track progress.

In a classroom, instruction moves at a set pace for 25+ students with varying needs. Personalized tutoring slows down, repeats, and adjusts based on your child's learning speed and style—whether they need more concrete examples, visual supports, movement breaks, or extended processing time. This individualized approach, supported by decades of learning science research, helps students build mastery and confidence rather than falling further behind.

The first session focuses on getting to know your child—their strengths, challenges, learning style, and goals. The tutor may review your child's IEP, recent assessments, or school feedback to understand what's working and where support is needed most. This foundation helps create a personalized plan that builds on what your child can do while targeting specific skills to develop.

Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who have expertise in special education, learning disabilities, neurodiversity, or related areas. Many have backgrounds in special education teaching, speech-language pathology, school psychology, or specialized training in intervention methods like Orton-Gillingham or Wilson Reading System. When you connect with a tutor, you can discuss their specific experience with your child's needs.

Tutors track progress through regular assessment—monitoring fluency, accuracy, comprehension, task completion, or behavioral goals depending on your child's focus areas. You'll see improvements in homework completion, test scores, confidence, or independence with daily tasks. Many families also notice changes in their child's attitude toward learning and willingness to tackle challenging material.

Frequency depends on your child's needs, IEP goals, and your family's schedule. Many students benefit from 1-2 sessions per week to reinforce what they're learning in school and build skills consistently. Your tutor can recommend a schedule based on your child's progress and can adjust as needed—some students need intensive support during certain seasons (like before state testing) and lighter support at other times.