Data and Code for: Online tutoring by college volunteers: Experimental evidence from a pilot program

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Matthew A. Kraft, Brown University; John A. List, University of Chicago; Jeffrey A. Livingston, Bentley University; Sally Sadoff, UC San Diego

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Online tutoring AEA P&P analysis replication code.do	text/plain	18.1 KB	04/28/2022 06:56:PM
Online tutoring AEA P&P randomization replication code.do	text/plain	12.1 KB	04/28/2022 07:32:PM
README.pdf	application/pdf	175.2 KB	05/02/2022 06:02:PM
online_tutoringB.dta	application/x-stata-dta	100.2 KB	04/28/2022 06:56:PM
online_tutoring_randomization.dta	application/x-stata-dta	67.1 KB	04/28/2022 06:59:PM
online_tutoring_randomization_wave3.dta	application/x-stata-dta	21.8 KB	04/29/2022 09:20:AM

Project Citation:

Kraft, Matthew A., List, John A., Livingston, Jeffrey A., and Sadoff, Sally. Data and Code for: Online tutoring by college volunteers: Experimental evidence from a pilot program. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-10-05. https://doi.org/10.3886/E169121V1

Project Description

Summary:

A substantial body of experimental evidence demonstrates that in-person tutoring

programs can have large impacts on K-12 student achievement. However, such

programs typically are costly and constrained by a limited local supply of tutors. In

partnership with CovEducation (CovEd), we conduct a pilot program that has potential

to ease both of these concerns. We conduct an experiment where volunteer tutors

from all over the country meet 1-on-1 with middle school students online during the

school day. We find that the program produces consistently positive (0.07σ for math

and 0.04σ for reading) but statistically insignificant effects on student achievement.

While these estimates are notably smaller than those found in many higher-dosage

in-person tutoring programs, they are from a significantly lower-cost program that

was delivered within the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide

evidence that is consistent with a dosage model of tutoring where additional hours

result in larger effects.

Funding Sources: University of Chicago (n/a)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: education; tutoring; field experiment

JEL Classification:
C93 Field Experiments
I21 Analysis of Education

Geographic Coverage: Illinois

Time Period(s): 3/2021 – 6/2021 (Spring 2021)

Collection Date(s): 3/2021 – 6/2021

Universe: Middle school students in Chicago Heights, IL

Data Type(s): administrative records data; experimental data

Collection Notes: Data is de-identified and was provided by the school where the experiment was conducted.

Methodology

Response Rate: The school has over 900 students. At the time of the experiment, 477 of these chose to attend school in-person. All were eligible for participation in the experiment and were part of the initial randomizations. The randomization first selected 268 of these 477 students to participate in the experiment in wave 1. 134 of these were then randomized into treatment in wave 1. The remaining 209 students were part of wave 2; 88 were randomized into treatment since 88 new tutors became available. Finally, 83 new students later switched to hybrid attendance and were part of wave 3. 42 were randomized into treatment.

Sampling: All students that were attending hybrid (in-person some days, at home others) at the middle school where the experiment was conducted were part of the study. Students who attended at home full time were not eligible.

Data Source: All data other than those generated as part of the experiment were provided by the school where the experiment was conducted.

Collection Mode(s): other

Scales: n/a

Weights: n/a

Unit(s) of Observation: Individual student

Geographic Unit: n/a

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Published Versions

V1 [2023-10-05]

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