4 ms·

Gwern's comments rarely take the time to lay out every step in his reasoning. Mix in his typical snark and you've got a recipe for misunderstanding. I'll spell

by ggreer 12y ago

Gwern's comments rarely take the time to lay out every step in his reasoning. Mix in his typical snark and you've got a recipe for misunderstanding. I'll spell it out. When it comes to disadvantaged and struggling students, tutoring has been tried countless times. As the article points out, it typically fails. What is Chicago's Match program doing differently? If the answer is, "not much", we should expect it to fail. In that case, the initial indications of success could be a statistical fluke, an uncorrected selection effect, or even biased researchers "juking" the stats. It took some digging, but I found a paper on the pilot study.[1] This preceded the one mentioned by the NYT, and had just 106 students. I don't see any glaring errors, but I don't spend a ton of time reading academic papers. They at least admit potential issues with scaling (the program relies on volunteers to keep costs low) and the poor statistical power of their study. Figures 5 through 8 are particularly damning. I'd love it if this program worked, but I'm not optimistic. 1. http://www.matcheducation.org/s/Crime-Lab-pilot-study-paper_Match-Tutors-Chicago.pdf http://www.matcheducation.org/s/Crime-Lab-pilot-study-paper_...

jacinda 12y ago
They mention in the article that the tutors are typically recent college graduates, which would means they would be closer in age to the students they are tutoring. This could lead to more of a sense of camaraderie between the tutor and pupil, which could be more motivating for students of this demographic than the academic assistance (especially if the students don't have someone they could consider a true "friend" in other areas of their life). It would be interesting to see a similar study where you divided students into 3 groups - those who would receive no tutoring, those who would receive tutoring from recent college graduates and those who would receive tutoring from someone at least twenty years older than the student.
- slowmovintarget 12y ago
  It isn't really about friendship. The article says so, but then you keep reading and get to the actual mechanics. From the article: “It’s friendship and pushing — they nag them to success,” Barbara Algarin, the executive director of Match Education, which runs the tutoring program, told me. “These students can make remarkable progress when they appreciate that their tutor is in their corner. The math connection leads to better study skills and a love of learning. Grades improve across the board.” That's essentially parenting, not friendship.
  - jacinda 12y ago
    I don't know about that. It's hard to be effective at "nagging someone to success" unless they have a positive bond with you (friendship). All the nagging in the world from someone you don't trust just makes you stonewall. Conversely, a push from a slightly older, more accomplished peer can be very motivating. Some sports examples might include a varsity player telling a JV player: "Come on, just one more lap!" "We're not leaving the field till you get a goal past me." Etc. My sense when I read the quote you pulled out was that nag was not the best word choice for what they described the students doing.

by ggreer 12y ago

jacinda 12y ago

They mention in the article that the tutors are typically recent college graduates, which would means they would be closer in age to the students they are tutoring. This could lead to more of a sense of camaraderie between the tutor and pupil, which could be more motivating for students of this demographic than the academic assistance (especially if the students don't have someone they could consider a true "friend" in other areas of their life). It would be interesting to see a similar study where you divided students into 3 groups - those who would receive no tutoring, those who would receive tutoring from recent college graduates and those who would receive tutoring from someone at least twenty years older than the student.

slowmovintarget 12y ago
It isn't really about friendship. The article says so, but then you keep reading and get to the actual mechanics. From the article: “It’s friendship and pushing — they nag them to success,” Barbara Algarin, the executive director of Match Education, which runs the tutoring program, told me. “These students can make remarkable progress when they appreciate that their tutor is in their corner. The math connection leads to better study skills and a love of learning. Grades improve across the board.” That's essentially parenting, not friendship.
- jacinda 12y ago
  I don't know about that. It's hard to be effective at "nagging someone to success" unless they have a positive bond with you (friendship). All the nagging in the world from someone you don't trust just makes you stonewall. Conversely, a push from a slightly older, more accomplished peer can be very motivating. Some sports examples might include a varsity player telling a JV player: "Come on, just one more lap!" "We're not leaving the field till you get a goal past me." Etc. My sense when I read the quote you pulled out was that nag was not the best word choice for what they described the students doing.