The Blueprint Math Fellows program is a hybrid path tutoring program run by the nonprofit organization, Blueprint Schools Network. Blueprint’s Math Fellows program includes four key components: in-person and online live group tutoring, use of the web-based math learning platform ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces), family engagement, and student incentives. The pilot project studied for this evaluation included tutoring and web-based math learning platforms provided to middle school students during their scheduled school day, five days a week in 45-minute sessions.
Study Goals
The goal of this study was to measure the effects of Blueprint’s hybrid tutoring program on math knowledge, student-tutor relationships, and student sense of belonging and confidence in math for middle school students in two schools. A secondary goal was to compare outcomes across students ending the year in small, medium, or large “homebase” tutoring groups.
Research Questions
The research questions were:
- Among students identified to receive the tutoring program, what is the average attendance rate? Does attendance vary by homebase tutoring group size?
- Do students who participate in the tutoring program report having a high-quality relationship with their tutors? Does the reported quality of students’ relationships vary by homebase tutor group sizes?
- Do students who receive the tutoring program score higher on district assessments than students who do not receive the tutoring program? Does this difference vary by student characteristics?
- Do standardized math assessment scores vary by homebase tutor group sizes?
- Do students who receive the tutoring program report higher levels of math confidence and sense of belonging after receiving tutoring than before? Does this vary by homebase tutor group sizes?
Findings
The evaluation found that:
- Student attendance in tutoring sessions averaged 81.5 percent during the school year.
- Most students (76.8 percent) reported strong relationships with their tutors. A smaller share of students ending the year in large homebase groups (70.3 percent) reported strong relationships with their tutors, compared to students ending in small or medium-sized groups (77.3 and 83.9 percent).
- Blueprint participants had end-of-year Star Math assessment scores that were 0.12 standard deviations higher than their nonparticipant peers, after controlling for differences in baseline scores and characteristics. Based on this estimate, there is a 99 percent probability that the program improved student scores on the Star Math assessment. Descriptively, students in large homebase groups showed greater improvement in Star Math scores than those in either medium or small groups.
- Student confidence in math and sense of belonging in tutoring increased modestly during the school year.