How does private tutoring mediate the effects of socio-economic status on mathematics performance? Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

Private tutoring refers to additional instruction out of school. With its determinants and effects, private tutoring has received increasing attention from scholars over the past decades. Because of the increasing role of school and high-stakes exams, the demand for private tutoring has increased tremendously in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to examine whether private tutoring mediates the effects of socio-economic status (SES) on students’ mathematics performance in the country. This study also addresses how this dynamic varies across types of tutoring: one-on-one tutoring versus tutoring in groups. The findings show that private tutoring partially mediates the effect of SES on students’ mathematics performance, and that this dynamic varies across different private tutoring services.

Preservice School Counselors’ Math Anxiety and Worst Math Experiences

“…Perhaps Turkish parents press for greater math performance at earlier ages than American parents. For example, the literature has reported that it is not uncommon for Turkish parents to hire tutors to improve their child's performance in elementary school years (Atalmis, Yilmaz, & Saatcioglu, 2016). In the Turkish culture, extra rigor goes into selecting math and science teachers, and parents also know that preparation is a joint effort between these teachers and parents to ensure college entry for their children.…”

“…Among these three reasons, the most probable explanation for the results obtained is the first one because Turkish students, based upon test scores, are tracked into college and non-college pathways far earlier than American students. Atalmis, Yilmaz, and Saatcioglu (2016)…”

A cross-national exploration of shadow education use by high and low SES families

“…Many shadow education studies include both parental income and educational level as indicators of SES, which are known to be correlated (Entrich & Lauterbach, 2019). Some studies examine SES as a main determinant of shadow education usage (e.g., Southgate, 2009), whereas others assess the effect of SES on shadow education usage while controlling for other student-level variables (Atalmis et al, 2016;Buchmann et al, 2010;Guill & Bos, 2014;Lee, 2007). Both strands of research report a positive relationship between SES and the use of shadow education.…”

“…Although students with varying socioeconomic backgrounds may engage in some form of tutoring, Buchmann et al (2010) suggest that students from advantaged families buy into more intensive -i.e., more expensive -forms of shadow education to stay ahead of the competition for admission to universities. Thus, the type of shadow education students participate in appears to relate to their SES (Atalmis et al, 2016).…”

“…Bodovski & Farkas, 2008). The mediating role of shadow education has been the subject of recent scholarly attention (Atalmis et al, 2016;Buchmann et al, 2010); however, the relationship between SES and shadow education, and the relationship between shadow education and achievement, have not been examined jointly in a structural meta-analytical model. Examining the potential mediating role of shadow education in the relationship between SES and achievement is particularly important for understanding the role of shadow education in generating inequalities in educational outcomes.…”