Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes among Adolescents

Improving academic outcomes for economically disadvantaged students has proven challenging, particularly for children at older ages. the authors 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. (Published Abstract Provided)