OSSLT tutor or online prep? How to choose for your child

The short answer

A tutor helps most when a child needs someone beside them: to explain, to encourage and to keep them on track. Online prep with marked writing suits most students who mainly need lots of practice with feedback on every attempt. Many families do both: a tutor teaches, and the online practice between sessions gives the tutor more to work with.

Whichever you choose, start by finding out where your child stands. A full online OSSLT practice test is marked the moment your child finishes, including the short answer and the opinion essay. You will see which skills are strong and which need work, and that tells you what kind of help fits.

What your child needs to get ready for

The OSSLT has two online sessions, about 65 and 75 minutes, with 37 scored questions. Reading covers four kinds of text: a real-life narrative, an information paragraph, a news report and a dialogue. Writing has 12 questions on organization and conventions, a short written answer and an opinion essay. A score of 300 or higher is successful.

Most students lose marks in two places: reading questions that ask what a text suggests rather than what it says, and the two written answers. Any help you pay for should cover both. Our guide to OSSLT reading questions shows the question types.

When a tutor is the right call

A tutor is worth considering when:

• Your child finds reading hard in every subject, not just on practice tests.

• They need someone to sit with them to stay focused.

• They have a learning need and do best with one-on-one teaching. Ask the school about accommodations too, since the OSSLT allows them for students with an IEP.

• They are writing the test again after a result that was not yet successful and need a different plan, not more of the same. What happens next explains the options.

• You want someone to explain the why behind every answer, in conversation.

When online practice is enough

Online prep fits well when:

• Your child reads well enough day to day but has not practised the test's question types.

• The main gap is writing: they need to write many short answers and essays and get each one marked.

• They work on their own when they have a clear plan.

• Your schedule makes regular sessions with a tutor hard to arrange.

The key feature to look for is writing that comes back marked the way EQAO marks it. The short answer is coded I, 10, 20 or 30. The opinion essay gets two codes: topic development, from 10 to 60, and conventions, from 10 to 40. Our OSSLT marking guide explains every code.

Using both together

The two work well side by side. A tutor's hours are best spent teaching: how to find evidence, how to build a paragraph, how to plan an essay. Online practice between sessions gives your child more attempts, each one marked, and gives the tutor real results to look at. Your child can bring their practice test report to a session so the tutor starts with the skills that need the most work.

Getting the most from either

A few habits make any kind of help go further.

• Keep the sessions regular. A short session every week builds more than a long one every month.

• Write a lot. The written answers are where most of the gains are. Aim for at least one short answer and one paragraph of opinion writing each week, and a full essay each month.

• Read the feedback out loud together. Ask your child to say, in their own words, the one thing they will change next time.

• Look at real examples. Our opinion essay examples show the same prompt written at different codes, which helps a child see what a stronger essay does differently.

• Try EQAO's practice test too. It runs on the same platform as the real test, so the tools are familiar on test day.

Questions to ask a tutor before you book

• Have you prepared students for the OSSLT before, and how do you use EQAO's rubrics?

• How do you mark my child's writing, and how often?

• What is your plan across four to five months?

• How will you measure progress? Ask for a practice test at the start and near the end.

• What does each session cost, and how many sessions do you suggest in total?

• What happens if a session is missed?

A good tutor will be glad to answer every one.

Questions to ask an online platform

• Is the practice original material written in the style of the OSSLT? It should never claim to be the real test.

• Does it cover all four reading types and both written answers?

• How fast does writing come back marked, and does the feedback say what to change?

• Does it include full practice tests?

• What does it cost, what is included, and how do you stop?

• Does my child's school already license it? Many Ontario schools do.

How to tell if it is working

Whatever you choose, measure it the same way. Have your child take a full practice test at the start, again about halfway, and again near the end of a four to five month plan. Look for movement in three places:

• the reading questions that ask what a text suggests,

• the short answer code,

• the two essay codes.

Practice levels are estimates, not an OSSLT score, so watch the direction of change rather than a single number. If nothing moves after a couple of months, change the plan.

What it costs

Tutoring is usually priced per session, so the total depends on how many weeks you book and how often your child meets the tutor. Online platforms usually charge a monthly or term price for unlimited practice.

At Litguide, a student whose school or board licenses Litguide uses it through their class, with nothing to buy. Otherwise, the student plans start at $40 a month and include both Litguide booklets, every lesson and practice test, and marking on all writing. The monthly plan can be cancelled any time. For every kind of prep side by side, including EQAO's own practice test and printed workbooks, read OSSLT prep options compared.