Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Tutoring
Tutoring programs were also administered by schools as a way to deal with indi-
vidual differences in ability. In some cases, students also sought out tutoring on
their own, particularly in more affluent districts. At many schools we visited, stu-
dents who needed help in academic subjects could receive help either from teach-
ers or from fellow students who excelled in these subjects. This took place during
the school day or for short periods after school.
At Vanderbilt Middle School, for example, students could receive help from peer
tutors anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes a day. Teachers also reported staying after
school to help students. Peer tutoring was seen as benefiting both the fast learner
by reinforcing this student’s knowledge and the slower learner, who may find it
easier to ask questions of a peer than of the teacher.
Although schools in poor districts also had tutoring programs, these programs
were modest in comparison to those of the affluent schools we visited. One rea-
son may be that fewer high-achieving students are available to tutor their peers.
Another factor was that teachers in schools serving disadvantaged families seem
less willing to tutor students after school in neighborhoods that are perceived as
dangerous. For example, in our visit to one inner-city school, we were advised
to take a taxi to and from the front door and to leave the school well before dark.
Question-and-Answer Periods
One very commonly observed teaching practice in the classrooms we visited was
the question-and-answer period. During these periods, teachers ask students a se-
ries of questions in rapid-fire succession. We frequently observed students jump

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up and down with their hands raised, eager to be called on. Teachers believe that
these sessions allow individual students to contribute at their own level of ability.
We observed this practice in many classrooms we visited. There appeared to be
differences in how effectively the question-and-answer format was employed. At
Parks Elementary School, one teacher embarrassed a student, who had the correct
answer, because the teacher thought that the student had guessed instead of
working out the problem. At Rockefeller Elementary School, a math education
specialist with a Ph.D. visited classrooms several times a week to conduct ques-
tion-and-answer sessions. These sessions were fast-paced and rich in content and
had been developed over many years.