About the Founder

Deepak Kumar is the founder of BetterOutcomes.academy. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad, India and a Master’s degree in Education from Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, California, specializing in Learning, Design, and Technology.

He has over two decades of experience in learning and development. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two teenage children.

About BetterOutcomes.academy

BetterOutcomes.Academy aims to enhance academic performance and foster personal growth by connecting elementary and middle school students who need academic support with high school students passionate about teaching and mentoring. Through these meaningful connections, we strive to create a supportive learning environment that benefits both mentors and mentees.

According to the United States Department of Education’s Nation’s Report Card for 2022, many elementary and middle school students in several states are underperforming in reading, math, and science, with scores either declining or remaining stagnant from 2020 to 2022. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) for public high schools for the year 2019-2020 was  87% and 2 million high school students dropped out in 2021.

Key Issues

Academic Underperformance:
  • Many 4th and 8th graders score below or not significantly above the national average in key subjects.
  • Decline in reading and math scores for ages 9 and 13 since 2020.
  • Science scores have either decreased or remained steady.
High Dropout Rates:
  • Approximately 2 million students aged 16-24 drop out annually.
  • Dropout rates result in significant lifetime earnings deficits.
  • The U.S. ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries in graduation rates.
Decreasing School Enrollment: Contributing Factors to Low Academic Achievement:
  • School absenteeism and negative attitudes toward school.
  • Substance abuse and externalizing/internalizing problems.
  • Low parent-school involvement.
  • Academic difficulties such as grade retention, low IQ, learning disabilities, and feeling overwhelmed.
BetterOutcomes.academy aims to improve academic performance and retention rates by connecting elementary and middle school students with appropriate mentors within their school districts with the use of AI. This approach facilitates effective interaction and long-term mentor-mentee relationships, addressing the academic challenges faced by students and improving learning outcomes and advancing equity in educational systems. Improving school systems and early interventions can reduce risk factors. High-dosage tutoring and other evidence-based afterschool or summer programs provide crucial support for students. Research from the Annenberg Institute shows that tutoring significantly boosts PreK-12 learning outcomes. A meta-analysis by Northwestern, Toronto, and MIT researchers found that tutoring has a large, positive impact on student learning, with a consistent effect size of 0.37 standard deviations. Tutoring, especially for below-threshold students, supplements classroom education, offering additional instruction, customized learning, and mentorship. While classroom teachers are ideal, their capacity is limited. The National Dropout Prevention Center highlights mentoring/tutoring as a key strategy for keeping students in school.
Elementary and middle school students in a district needing subject-specific help will register on BetterOutcomes.academy. High school students from the same district will also register as mentors/tutors. During registration, both mentors and learners will complete a questionnaire detailing their strengths, weaknesses, study needs, availability, goals, and challenges. Initially, program managers will use this information to match learners with suitable mentors. For instance, a learner needing help in Chemistry will be paired with a tutor proficient in Chemistry and available at the same time. Over time, as our AI system gathers data and improves, it will handle the matching process. The AI will also generate session summaries accessible to both mentors and learners.

Mentors and learners will meet regularly via a video platform like Zoom to discuss homework, address challenging areas, and explore possible solutions. Tutors will be trained to guide rather than provide direct answers, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills in learners.

Effective academic support, delivered timely and appropriately, is expected to improve learners’ grades, motivation, engagement, and interest in STEM subjects, which are often perceived as difficult and thus avoided.

Workflow
The steps below describe the the workflow tutors, learners, and program coordinators will follow:
  1. High school students who are interested in tutoring will submit an application form on the BetterOutcomes.academy/<school name> website. The form will include fields for providing information such as their name, school email address, the subjects they want to teach, and the days and times they are available to teach.
  2. Elementary and middle school students who need a tutor’s help will submit an application form on the BetterOutcomes.academy/<school name> website. The form will include fields for providing information such as their name, school email address, the subjects they want to learn, and the days and times they are available.
  3. The Student Program Coordinators (SPCs) will review all applications and enter both tutors’ and learners’ information in a database. The SPCs will match each learner with a tutor based on the common subjects and availability. 
  4. For each learner, the SPCs will schedule a kickoff meeting with the learner and the tutor. The SPC will introduce the learner to the tutor, discuss their availability, interests, and outcomes, and set expectations in terms of expected behavior, timeliness, and the items listed in the Standard Operating Procedure.
  5. The tutor will schedule a weekly recurring meeting for 30 – 60 minutes with the learner based on their availability and level of help needed.
  6. The tutor will conduct weekly meetings and help the learner with homework and teach the subject.
  7. At the end of each quarter, the SPCs will schedule a meeting with the tutor and learner to conduct a retrospective. The meeting agenda will include discussion items such as what worked and what did not, any problems or challenges they faced, which activities they would like to start doing, continue doing, or stop doing, and share new ideas and best practices.
  8. The tutor and learner will decide either to:
    1. continue weekly sessions if everything is working fine
    2. end the sessions if the learner does not need tutoring anymore or if the schedule is not working out for either the tutor or learner
  9. The tutor and learner will continue to have regularly scheduled meetings until they decide to end it. Even after the tutor graduates high school and goes to college, they can choose to continue this relationship in the form of mentor-mentee.
Benefits to Learner/Mentees
Middle and elementary school students will benefit from having high school tutors who understand their coursework and challenges. Learners will feel more comfortable discussing homework problems and asking questions with peers closer to their age.

This tutor-learner relationship can evolve into a mentor-mentee bond over the years. As tutors enter university, they can continue guiding learners, helping with college applications, resume building, high school coursework selection, extracurricular activities, and essay writing based on their own experiences.

Such mentorship is expected to motivate students to pursue higher education and reduce high school dropout rates. Increasing the number of university graduates, particularly in STEM fields, will help meet the growing demand for a skilled workforce.

Benefits to Mentors and Tutors
High school students who tutor middle and elementary school students will gain valuable skills for their careers and life. They will learn active listening, effective communication, and problem-solving. They will create progress reports, engage in retrospectives, and share best practices.

Tutors will earn volunteer hours and extracurricular recognition for their college applications. Teaching will also enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, fostering a sense of community service and a commitment to the greater good, which will strengthen their college applications.

Benefits to School Districts
When middle and elementary school students receive additional academic support, their performance improves, raising the overall class grades. High school tutors can list tutoring as an extracurricular activity and community service on their college applications, enhancing their chances of university acceptance.

As a result, the ratings of both elementary/middle and high schools, as evaluated by niche.com or greatschools.org, will improve. This will attract more families to these school districts, boosting the local economy.
Numerous studies underscore the urgent need for intervention. These insights reinforce the necessity of implementing targeted support systems to enhance student engagement and retention, fostering a more equitable educational landscape across the U.S.

Reports on the current state of education
  • The NAEP Long-Term Trend Assessment Results for Reading & Mathematics
    • https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
    • The Nation’s Report Card, managed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), evaluates U.S. student performance in reading, math, science, and other subjects. It provides national and state-level insights that help educators and policymakers monitor progress and address educational gaps.
  • Changes in average scores and scores at selected percentiles, by subject and grade
    • https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/
    • The Nation’s Report Card, by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), evaluates U.S. students’ knowledge in subjects like reading and math. It provides a measure for state and national educational progress to guide improvements.
  • State Performance Compared to the Nation
  • National Center for Education Statistics
    • https://nces.ed.gov/
    • The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects and publishes data to inform education policy and track U.S. educational performance, focusing on trends in academic achievement, enrollment, and graduation.
  • Projections of Education Statistics to 2030
    • https://nces.ed.gov/programs/PES/section-1.asp
    • The NCES article provides projections of key education statistics in the U.S., including trends in enrollment and graduation rates, to assist in educational planning. It aims to inform policymakers about future educational trends through 2030.
Research studies on school absenteeism Research studies on the effects of a well-educated workforce on the economy Research studies on achievement gap
  • Causes of and Solutions to the Achievement Gap: Teachers’ Perceptions
    • https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1095644.pdf
    • This article examines teachers’ perceptions of the achievement gap, identifying contributing factors and possible solutions. It highlights strategies like increased tutoring, parental involvement, and teacher training to bridge gaps in student performance.
Research studies on the effects of tutoring on school children
  • The transformative potential of tutoring for prek-12  learning outcomes: lessons from randomized evaluations
  • The Impressive Effects of Tutoring on PreK-12 Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence
  • National dropout prevention center on mentoring and tutoring
  • National partnership of student access
  • A Multidisciplinary Meta-Analysis Comparing Mentored and Non-Mentored Individuals
    • https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2352144/
    • The article examines how mentoring can significantly enhance educational and career outcomes for individuals. It emphasizes the effectiveness of structured mentoring programs in fostering personal and professional development.
  • High-dosage tutoring and reading achievement: evidence from New York City
  • Strengthening children’s math skills with enhanced instruction: The impacts of Making Pre-K Count and High 5s on kindergarten outcomes
  • Evaluation of a math intervention program implemented with community support
    • https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19345747.2019.1571653
    • This study, published in the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, examines the effects of a math intervention program designed for struggling students and supported by AmeriCorps, which aimed to improve math achievement through community-supported tutoring. It reports that students who participated in the intervention demonstrated improved outcomes on math assessments compared to a control group.
  • Effective programs in elementary mathematics: A best-evidence synthesis
    • https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED597179
    • This synthesis reviews research on mathematics programs aimed at improving achievement in elementary school students, assessing various types of interventions like tutoring, technology programs, and instructional methods.
  • Cross-age tutoring in kindergarten and elementary school settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis
  • Evaluating math recovery: Assessing the causal impact of a diagnostic tutoring program on student achievement
    • https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1005742
    • Published in the American Educational Research Journal, this study explores the outcomes of the Math Recovery program for first graders needing math support. The article details the effects of the program over a two-year period across multiple schools and provides insights into its impact on students’ mathematics achievement and development.
  • Effectiveness of an extracurricular program for struggling readers: A comparative study with parent tutors and volunteer tutors
    • https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959475218300987?via%3Dihub
    • This study examines the outcomes of a paired reading program aimed at struggling readers, comparing the effects when children were tutored by parents versus volunteers. It reports that students working with volunteer tutors saw more improvement in reading fluency over a 20-week period compared to those tutored by parents.
  • Causes of and Solutions to the Achievement Gap: Teachers’ Perceptions
    • https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1095644.pdf
    • The study emphasizes the importance of both pre-service and in-service training to address educators’ challenges in supporting diverse student needs effectively, and one of the four possible solutions that could effectively bridge the achievement gap includes providing more tutoring, after school, and summer programs for students.
  • Does Mentoring Matter? A Multidisciplinary Meta-Analysis Comparing Mentored and Non-Mentored Individuals