Statements
Mission
Homework Hotline's mission is to help Tennessee students in grades K-12 learn, understand and complete challenging assignments, and master new concepts through free one-on-one tutoring by phone and online chat. With Homework Hotline's support students are able to return to school more prepared and less discouraged.
Support a Hotline tutor! Homework Hotline depends on donations, financially partnering school districts, grants, and individual donors like you to support free tutoring for all TN K-12 students. Donate during The Big Payback to support the part-time hours of three certified (or retired) teachers who work with Homework Hotline.
Background
Since 1990, Homework Hotline's patient and kind tutors have completed over 574,000 sessions of free, one-on-one tutoring. Teachers cover all K-12 subjects and provide tutoring support in multiple languages. Hotline began with just four teachers per night. In our 34th year, Hotline employs 20 certified and retired teachers who work with students each night, Monday through Thursday, throughout the school year. Subjects areas at all grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school) include math, reading, social studies, history, geography, government, economics, science, and AP subjects - among others- and multilingual instruction is also offered to students. Hotline is available for students and their families 4 to 8 pm on Monday through Thursday during the school year. During this time, students and their families can receive quality, one-on-one, free assistance by phone or online chat.
Impact
Tutoring services are desperately needed by TN students. Many students have experienced an academic slide due to interrupted instruction, periods of virtual/remote learning, and lack of access to teachers. Hotline's services remove barriers and provide a supportive environment by ensuring access to free one-on-one tutoring service, preventing academic frustration and promoting success. Hotline's technology features meet the needs of diverse learners. The online whiteboard and image share features support visual learners, online chat allows students with hearing impairments and those in rural areas without cell service to contact Hotline, and multilingual services allow callers to receive support in their home language.
Programming is designed to reach students academically underserved due to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, native language, disability, or location. Many students often have little at-home academic support where families lack formal education, speak English as a second language, work multiple jobs, or have limited transportation. Comparing Hotline's data to statewide data shows that Hotline is effectively reaching students who are most at-risk for falling behind academically. Many of these families cannot contribute financially to provide their students with quality, after-school academic support.
Needs
Homework Hotline is working to meet the growing demand for one-on-one tutoring, academic support, and remediation.
- $10,000 provides a technology maintenance contract to support and improve Hotline's custom database used to track all students, sessions, and schools.
- $3,500 supports an additional teacher, one night per week for one school year. Each Hotline teacher can provide approximately 7-9 tutoring sessions per night.
- $780 pays for phone lines for one month.
- $500 adds a teaching station for one year (computer, software, phone, supplies).
- $20 pays for one teacher phone for one month.
- $10 provides one 20-minute tutoring session with a certified teacher.
- $3.50 provides shipping for larger prizes sent to children from low-income families.
CEO Statement
One of the hardest things to do is to ask for help. On a daily basis, we hear "I need help" from students of all ages. Hotline offers a lifeline to motivated students, providing one-on-one tutoring sessions over the phone and online with highly qualified certified and retired teachers. Services are designed to benefit all K-12 TN students, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, don't have access to after-school tutoring, have little support at home, speak English as a second language, or are hard of hearing.
Hotline's goal is to help each caller find success whether in only one session or during weekly, or daily, sessions. Each session's goal is for students to complete their assignments and/or prove mastery. Students may also elect to participate in our no-cost, weekly tutoring program. As a result, all students return to school with more confidence in the quality of their work, a deeper understanding of concepts, and are likely to continue to seek assistance. One weekly-tutoring 8th grade parent said, "She is visibly relieved after each session at how much better she understands the material, but my favorite is when she reports on days following how much easier new information is because she got the basics straightened out… Parents aren't always the best tutors, and I'm so grateful for your help." Hotline aims to diminish academic slide, help students grow, and establish a stable platform to set up students for a lifetime of success.
We are grateful for all of our partners including our students, parents/guardians, school districts, community organizations, corporate and foundation donors, and all the individuals who continue to support and use Hotline allowing us to flourish.
Board Chair Statement
As a first-generation college graduate and former Homework Hotline student, I understand firsthand how important it is for students to have access to quality educational support in and out of the classroom. As such, I am grateful for our board, staff, teachers, donors, and community partners who provide more than 6,000 individuals with one-on-one tutoring by phone, digital whiteboard, and online chat. These services provide students of all backgrounds the opportunity to succeed, regardless if they live in rural, urban, or suburban communities across Tennessee. Homework Hotline is a low-cost, high-impact education solution for families and in order to stay that way, we are always open to partnerships that increase our reach and allow more students and parents to access free, one-on-one tutoring by our certified teachers.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Educational Services |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Remedial Reading & Encouragement |
Areas Served
Homework Hotline serves K-12 students in Tennessee. Any public school, private school, homeschool or virtual school student who lives in Tennessee is welcome to utilize Hotline.
| TN |
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - DeKalb |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Overton |
| TN - Perry |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Smith |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - White |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Clay |
| Statewide |
