One-on-One and Both Benefit? The Effects of One-on-One Online Tutoring on Underserved Students and Volunteer Tutors

The education gap disproportionately impacts underserved students. Volunteers can assistthem through one-on-one tutoring, which has the potential to effectively reduce learningdeficits. Using field data, this study examines the impact of ten sessions of online tutoring onstudents and volunteer tutors. Participants completed pre- and post-test self-reportquestionnaires. Students’ pre-test data (n = 45) showed relatively low scores for engagement,self-efficacy, academic self-concept, and feeling of belonging, but higher scores forexpectancy, value, and attitude toward school. Moreover, students described challenginghome-learning environments with limited parental support, inadequate materials, andinsufficient space for studying. We examined the impact of tutoring on the motivational andaffective characteristics, as well as the academic aspirations, of underserved students.Qualitatively analyzing five representative case studies, we found that tutoring had a positiveeffect on students’ self-efficacy, while the effects on the other variables were mixed.Examining the effect on the tutors (n = 49), univariate latent change score models revealed apositive mean change in tutors’ empathy and significant variability in change for all variables.Our field data provide authentic insights into the complexity of online tutoring as a potentialwin-win intervention for addressing educational inequity while promoting tutors’ personaldevelopment.