Online Tutoring, School Performance, and School-to-Work Transitions: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Tutoring programs for low-performing students, delivered in-person or online, effectively enhance school performance, yet their medium- and longer-term impacts on labor market outcomes remain less understood. To address this gap, we conduct a randomized controlled trial with 839 secondary school students in Germany to examine the effects of an online tutoring program for low-performing students on academic performance and school-to-work transitions. The online tutoring program had a non-significant intention-to-treat effect of 0.06 standard deviations on math grades six months after program start. However, among students who had not received other tutoring services prior to the intervention, the program significantly improved math grades by 0.14 standard deviations. Moreover, students in non-academic school tracks experienced smoother school-to-work transitions, with vocational training take-up 18 months later being 5 percentage points higher—an effect that was even larger (12 percentage points) among those without prior tutoring.Tutoring programs for low-performing students, delivered in-person or online, effectively enhance school performance, yet their medium- and longer-term impacts on labor market outcomes remain less understood. To address this gap, we conduct a randomized controlled trial with 839 secondary school students in Germany to examine the effects of an online tutoring program for low-performing students on academic performance and school-to-work transitions. The online tutoring program had a non-significant intention-to-treat effect of 0.06 standard deviations on math grades six months after program start. However, among students who had not received other tutoring services prior to the intervention, the program significantly improved math grades by 0.14 standard deviations. Moreover, students in non-academic school tracks experienced smoother school-to-work transitions, with vocational training take-up 18 months later being 5 percentage points higher—an effect that was even larger (12 percentage points) among those without prior tutoring. Overall, the results indicate that tutoring can generate lasting benefits for low-performing students that extend beyond school performance.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Silke Anger, Berhard Christoph, Agata Galkiewicz, Shushanik Margaryan, Malte SandnerORCiD, Thomas Siedler
URL / DOI:https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/25151.pdf
Document Type:Working Paper
Language:English
Date of first Publication:2025/12/12
Release Date:2025/12/22
Tag:online tutoring; randomized controlled trial; disadvantaged youth;; school grades; school-to-work transition
Pagenumber:83
Andere Schriftenreihe:ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin Discussion Papers
institutes:Fakultät Betriebswirtschaft
Research Themes:Soziale & ökonomische Transformation
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