John Wolf
Associate Director
Connect
Expertise
![Headshot of ‘Ed Lab’ staff person](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/John-Wolf-byJasonSmith-7314-1024x1024.jpg)
John Wolf is the Associate Director for the Education Lab. For over a decade, John has helped to design and implement research projects focused on efforts to increase school engagement and interventions aimed to personalize academic instruction. As a former educator, John has a unique understanding of the challenges schools and nonprofit groups face when developing programs with youth. John uses this knowledge to provide strategic guidance to our leadership and research teams. He also works with our diverse array of partners to deepen our collective understanding of the many facets of program implementation that support or impede the successful delivery of high-quality services.
Before joining the Labs, John was a middle school math teacher with Teach for America in an academically underserved community in Indianapolis. John holds a BS in business administration from Washington University in Saint Louis and an MAT from Marian University in Indianapolis.
Personalized Learning Initiative
The Personalized Learning Initiative (PLI) is a moonshot to overcome pandemic learning loss and aims to bring high-dosage tutoring to students nationwide.
![Saga Education tutor supports a student working on their laptop](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/Fellow_Stu_052-scaled-e1728658772301-1024x678.jpg)
Personalized Learning Initiative: Tutor Corps Evaluation
The University of Chicago Education Lab is partnering with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to scale personalized tutoring in the wake of the pandemic.
![SAGA tutor working with students](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/06/20160502_SAGAInnovationsRecruitment-4638-1024x628.jpg)
Post-Secondary Champions
The Education Lab partnered with Chicago Public Schools to help implement a program embedding post-secondary advisors in schools to provide personalized supports for students’ post-secondary career and education outcomes.
![High school students meet with an admissions rep during a college fair.](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/Post-secondary-champions-1024x651.jpg)
High-Dosage Tutoring: Research Partnership with Saga Education
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and induced a once-in-a-century education learning crisis for students, the Education Lab, in partnership with Saga Education and school partners in Chicago and New York City, began generating evidence on the efficacy of high-dosage tutoring.
![SAGA tutor demonstrates math problem on a small whiteboard](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/10/20160502_SAGAInnovationsRecruitment-4727-1024x632.jpg)
Latest Updates
Tutoring & Tech’s Impact On Schools
Outside the Loop learns about the latest research from the Education Lab showing the benefits of tutoring combined with educational technology in schools.
![Outside the Loop Radio logo on white background](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/06/cropped-OTL-Logo-1400-x1400-iTunes-1024x753.jpg)
Effective Tutoring: Out-of-school Time Providers Need To Know What Works
Youth Today underscores the promise of high intensity tutoring and highlights a recent study from the University of Chicago Education Lab that found some students gained the equivalent of 2½ years of math in one academic year after participating in Saga Educations tutoring program.
![Youth Today logo in green and grey text on white background](https://educationlab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/01/youth-today.jpg)