Published Research
This study examines the academic performance of virtual school students from rural areas using four years of data (2016–2019) from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Across the full sample (n = 836,250) and a subsample of rural students (n = 371,503), attending a full-time virtual school was strongly associated with lower academic achievement. Negative associations were more pronounced in elementary and middle school than in high school.
Working Papers and Research Projects
The University of Oklahoma’s Transformative Tutoring Initiative (TTI) is an innovative program that is designed to support ninth-grade students who exhibit low achievement in mathematics. During the first three years of the program, a randomized controlled trial was performed at seven partner high schools to compare TTI’s high impact tutoring (3:1 or 2:1) model to a remedial mathematic class. On average, students in both groups entered the ninth grade performing at the 25th percentile in mathematics. While both groups showed significant academic growth, students receiving high impact tutoring showed a difference of nearly a half-year of learning (0.13 SD) compared to students in the remedial mathematics class group.
To date, TTI has served over 1,500 students at ten high schools. The program also recruits qualified OU students of all majors to become tutors or learning assistants. TTI has employed 276 OU tutors. Ninety-three percent of tutors were undergraduate students who maintained an average GPA of 3.7 while serving in the program. TTI tutors and learning assistants receive a compensation package (i.e., $4,700/semester) that is higher than that of regular part-time work that students often do near OU’s campus.
February 26, 2025
Housed in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, The University of Oklahoma’s Transformative Tutoring Initiative trains undergraduates to tutor high school students who are struggling in mathematics.
April 16, 2025
A legislative effort to provide struggling ninth-graders math tutoring from University of Oklahoma students is receiving strong support in the Oklahoma House of Representative and Oklahoma Senate.
April 19, 2023
Oklahoma University pilot brings high-dosage Algebra tutoring to high schoolers at no cost, targets those who need it most.
Oklahoma high school students who’ve fallen behind in math may have a better chance at a bright future through a new University of Oklahoma program combining the power of philanthropic investment with OU research and outreach.
