From Traditional Tutoring to AI Tutoring: Helping More Students Catch Up in Math

At Third Space Learning, we’ve always understood the importance of individualized academic support in addressing disparities in student outcomes and the achievement gap. But over time, we started to face a difficult truth: the one-on-one support we provided, while highly effective, wasn’t accessible to every student who needed it. And the math achievement gap remains wide.

In 2023, only 19% of fourth-grade students from low-income families were proficient in math, compared to 50% of students from high-income families. A 31 percentage point gap. By eighth grade, this gap persists, with only 26% of students proficient in math nationally. These figures show that, despite significant effort and investment, too many students are still falling behind.

For more than a decade, Third Space Learning has partnered with schools and districts to provide one-on-one online tutoring in math. But while traditional tutoring remains a highly effective strategy, it is no longer scalable for many schools under current budgetary and staffing constraints.

This is why we built Skye, the conversational AI math tutor. Not to replace what works, but to make high-quality, one-on-one math support available to more students across more schools.

Why traditional tutoring is increasingly difficult to sustain 

The demand for math intervention remains high, but funding and staffing levels often fall short. While traditional tutoring continues to show a strong impact, many schools and districts can no longer provide it at the level required to meaningfully narrow the math achievement gap.

Federal pandemic-era funding initiatives helped expand access to personalized support, but as those programs phase out, the financial pressure has returned but academic need has not diminished. The result is that too many students are now going without the additional help they need.

To deliver targeted, subject-specific intervention at scale, schools must now explore new models.

Skye, an AI voice tutor designed specifically for elementary and middle school math instruction, is our response to this challenge.

What a decade of tutoring insights told us had to change

Decades of research affirm that high-quality classroom instruction is the most important factor in student progress. However, when additional support is needed, structured one-on-one instruction remains one of the most effective tools at a school’s disposal. 

And for over a decade, we’ve seen firsthand the positive impact personalized one-on-one support can have on students’ academic progress.

But we’ve also seen the barriers schools face in scaling this support:

• Traditional one-on-one tutoring, while effective, is often difficult to schedule
• Administrators face difficult decisions about which students can be prioritized for support
• Limited capacity becomes a barrier, especially as budgets tighten

We realized that if we were going to continue making an impact on the achievement gap, we couldn’t just do more of what we’d always done. We had to approach things differently and explore sustainable, scalable alternatives.

AI Tutoring: a scalable approach to equitable support

In December 2023, our academic team and teaching experts began developing a solution that could bring the effectiveness of one-on-one tutoring to more students, without the cost and logistical barriers of traditional models.

That result is Skye, a conversational AI tutor grounded in pedagogy and classroom teaching strategies. Skye doesn’t replace teachers, it extends their reach and impact on student learning.

Skye uses the same instructional model as our live tutoring, including “I do, we do, you do” teaching, real-time formative assessment, and scaffolding techniques.

Unlike traditional tutoring, however, Skye is available anytime, for any number of students. It removes limits on scheduling and staffing, helping schools meet demand without increasing the cost per session.

Instructional design rooted in pedagogy

One of the core questions we asked during development was: What drives impact in our one-on-one tutoring?

It’s not just the presence of a tutor. It’s the instructional approach. To replicate our proven outcomes at scale, we prioritized instructional quality.

That’s why Skye was built by experienced educators, curriculum developers, and math specialists. Everything we’ve learned from supporting more than 170,000 students through 2 million lessons is built into Skye’s platform.

Skye, the conversational AI math tutor built on a decade of traditional tutoring

Each Skye session follows a consistent, research-aligned structure that we know works:

• Direct instruction and guided practice
• Formative checks for understanding throughout
• Scaffolded support to reduce cognitive load
• Opportunities for mathematical reasoning and discourse

Designed to reflect the qualities of high-impact tutoring

Many AI tutoring tools focus on generating questions or automating grading. But Skye is designed to mirror the mathematical reasoning and interaction that happen with a high-quality tutor.

Students verbalize their thinking and Skye responds in real time. It adjusts instruction using prompts, rephrased questions, and scaffolded hints, just like a traditional tutor would.

The focus is not just on correct answers, but on building fluency, confidence, and independent thinking. And, it’s built on the same classroom-informed pedagogy we’ve developed for more than a decade.

Scalable, high-quality one-on-one tutoring

District leaders consistently tell us: we know tutoring works, we just can’t afford to implement it at the scale needed.

This is where Skye makes the difference.

By removing the constraints of scheduling, tutor availability, and per-session costs, we’ve created a model that schools can use as often as they need, without compromise.

• Sessions can start every five minutes: before, during, or after school
• There’s no cap on the number of students supported at the same time
• Pricing is fixed annually, regardless of usage or dosage
• Instructional quality and consistency are maintained at scale

Skye offers a new kind of flexibility, one that meets schools’ needs while maintaining high standards. Every student deserves a consistent, structured path to progress.

“This innovative one-on-one math tutoring solution offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional one-on-one tutoring.”
Chris Harris, Assistant Principal,
Admirals Academy

Addressing common safety concerns about AI tutoring and student safety

We understand that district leaders must evaluate any AI-based tool through the lens of student safety, data privacy, and instructional rigor.

At Third Space Learning, our approach to AI is always teacher-led, grounded in pedagogy, and aligned with safety standards.

• All Skye sessions happen on a secure platform, approved and scheduled by schools
• Every interaction is recorded, and student safety alerts are automatically flagged and reviewed by our team
• Content is developed and quality-assured by our in-house education team and never AI-generated

AI is not a replacement for educators. It is a resource to extend their capacity and ensure equitable access to support.

Why human-led AI tutoring is a sustainable solution for the future

The shift from traditional to AI voice-based tutoring isn’t about replacing teachers or tutors. It’s about freeing up teachers to focus where they’re needed most and enabling schools to meet demand more efficiently while safeguarding quality.

Skye brings together everything we’ve learned in a model designed for sustainability, scalability, and impact.

By integrating AI in a way that aligns with your district’s priorities, you can expand access to one-on-one tutoring without increasing staff burden or per-student cost.

The result is a support system that’s:

• Equitable 
• Aligned to instructional standards
• Scalable across classrooms 
• Respective for the teacher’s role
• Understanding of how children learn

Our mission remains unchanged. But the tools we use must adapt to the challenges districts face today. With Skye, we offer a solution that allows you to meet more students where they are, without compromising on quality or safety.

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