#073 - What comes first, the lessons or the test?

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💡 THOUGHT

What comes first, the lessons or the test?

Some call it the school of hard knocks. We just call it life.

📊 TREND

The Tutoring Boom

A forthcoming study in Education Finance and Policy found that over half of centers like Kumon and Mathnasium are located in school districts representing the top 20% of income distribution. One researcher suggests wealthy families (already saving money by using high-quality public schools) are reinvesting those savings into personalized support. It's a smart strategy – tutoring works.

But what about everyone else? We might look to new solutions emerging outside of traditional, costly brick-and-mortar tutoring centers:

• Online platforms like Wyzant, Skooli and tutors.com

• AI-powered tools like Khan Academy's new AI tutor, Khanmigo 

• Community-driven learning pods where families share resources and expertise

The future of tutoring is here. It's just unevenly distributed.

🛠️ TOOL

Khanmigo: Your AI Study Buddy Has Arrived

Khan Academy's new AI tutor, Khanmigo, is changing how students get help with their homework (without doing the work for them).

Unlike generic AI chatbots, Khanmigo is designed explicitly for learning:

• Guides you through problems step-by-step

• Supports your writing process (without writing for you)

• Engages you in debates to strengthen arguments

• Transforms into historical figures for deeper discussions

"It has completely revolutionized our homeschool," says Katie, a homeschool parent. "It is perfect for a family that asks 'why' constantly. It is so much more time-efficient than trying to piece together intelligent answers from many sources."

The coolest part? It thinks before it speaks. Khanmigo has "hidden thoughts" that help it be more Socratic and guide you to discoveries rather than just feeding information.

If you’ve tried it already, reply to this email and tell us what you think!

(STAT) OF THE DAY

The "Two Sigma Effect"

In 1984, researcher Benjamin Bloom discovered that students who received one-on-one tutoring performed two standard deviations better than their classroom-only peers. In plain English, that means tutoring can launch an average student to the top of their class. Even "mastery learning" approaches, where students can progress at their own pace, only achieved about one sigma improvement.

Bloom called this the "2 Sigma problem" because while tutoring clearly worked best, providing a personal tutor for every student seemed economically impossible.

Forty years later, can a combination of more open education and AI tools help us crack this code?

That’s all for today!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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