Mar 2023
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
Read our academic paper on the early Saga studies published in the American Economic Review.
Improving academic outcomes for economically disadvantaged students has proven challenging, particularly for children at older ages. We present two large-scale randomized controlled trials of a high-dosage tutoring program delivered to secondary school students in Chicago. One innovation is to use paraprofessional tutors to hold down cost, thereby increasing scalability. Participating in math tutoring increases math test scores by 0.18 to 0.40 standard deviations and increases math and non-math course grades. These effects persist into future years. The data are consistent with increased personalization of instruction as a mechanism. The benefit-cost ratio is comparable to many successful early-childhood programs.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that evaluates the effectiveness of an innovative intervention, focused on personalized, intensive, in-school tutoring, in improving academic outcomes for adolescents who are academically behind in school.
Latest Updates
Students may need more daily tutoring after COVID pandemic
In this episode of WBEZ’s Reset, Sadie Stockdale Jefferson, PhD and Luke Pardue, PhD, economic policy fellow at Aspen Economic Strategy Group sit down with Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss the Education Lab’s latest paper, released as part of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group’s annual policy volume.
Overcoming Pandemic Learning Loss: Bringing High-Dosage Tutoring to Students Nationwide
The Aspen Economic Strategy Group (AESG) is hosting an event related to the publication of a new paper by the Education Lab’s faculty co-directors, Dr. Jens Ludwig and Dr. Jon Guryan, titled “Overcoming Pandemic-Induced Learning Loss.”
America’s Students Need an Operation Warp Speed
The Education Lab’s faculty co-directors, Dr. Jens Ludwig, professor at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Jon Guryan, professor at Northwestern University, make the case for a large-scale tutoring program designed to compensate for pandemic-era learning loss and equalize educational opportunities in the long-term.