Online Tutoring by College Volunteers: Experimental Evidence from a Pilot Program
- (pp. 614-18)
Abstract
In-person tutoring programs can have large impacts on K-12 student achievement, but high program costs and limited local supply of tutors have hampered scale-up. Online tutoring provided by volunteers can potentially reach more students in need. We implemented a randomized pilot program of online tutoring that paired college volunteers with middle school students. We estimate consistently positive but statistically insignificant effects on student achievement, 0.07 standard deviations for math and 0.04 standard deviations for reading. While our estimated effects are smaller than those for many higher-dosage in-person programs, they are from a significantly lower-cost program delivered within the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Citation
Kraft, Matthew A., John A. List, Jeffrey A. Livingston, and Sally Sadoff. 2022. "Online Tutoring by College Volunteers: Experimental Evidence from a Pilot Program." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 614-18. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221038Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions