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Does private tutoring increase students’ academic performance? Evidence from Turkey

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Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of private tutoring in Turkey. The authors introduce their study by providing some background information on the two major national examinations and three different kinds of tutoring. They then describe how they aimed to analyse whether attending private tutoring centres (PTCs) enhances Turkish students’ academic performance. By way of multiple linear regression analysis, their study sought to evaluate whether the impact of private tutoring varies in different subject areas, taking into account several student-related characteristics such as family and academic backgrounds as well as interest in and perception of academic success. In terms of subject areas, the results indicate that while private tutoring does have a positive impact on academic performance in mathematics and Turkish language, this is not the case in natural sciences. However, as evidenced by the effect sizes, these impacts are rather small compared to the impacts of other variables such as interest in and perception of academic success, high school graduation fields of study, high school cumulative grade point average (CGPA), parental education and students’ sociocultural background. While the authors point out that more research on the impact of further important variables needs to be done, their view is that school seems to be an important factor for determining students’ academic performance.

Résumé

Le soutien scolaire privé améliore-t-il les performances des étudiants ? Les résultats en Turquie – Les auteurs de cet article explorent l’efficacité des cours particuliers dispensés en Turquie. Ils présentent leur étude en fournissant quelques informations de fond sur les deux principaux examens nationaux et trois formes différentes de soutien scolaire. Ils décrivent ensuite l’approche qu’ils ont adoptée pour déterminer si la fréquentation des centres privés de soutien scolaire améliore les performances des étudiants turcs. Au moyen d’une analyse par régression linéaire multiple, ils ont cherché à établir si l’impact du soutien privé varie en fonction des disciplines, en intégrant plusieurs critères relatifs aux étudiants tels que le contexte familial et universitaire ainsi que l’intérêt et la perception pour le succès universitaire. En ce qui concerne les disciplines, les résultats indiquent que si le soutien privé a effectivement un impact positif sur les performances universitaires en mathématiques et en langue turque, il n’en est pas le cas dans le domaine des sciences naturelles. Néanmoins, comme le démontrent les tailles d’effet, ces impacts sont plutôt modestes, comparés à ceux d’autres variables telles que l’intérêt et la perception pour le succès universitaire, les matières d’examen pour le diplôme des études secondaires, la moyenne pondérée cumulative (MPC) obtenue au baccalauréat, le niveau d’instruction des parents et le contexte socioculturel de l’étudiant. Les auteurs signalent qu’une étude complémentaire serait nécessaire pour examiner l’impact d’autres variables significatives, mais émettent d’ores et déjà le point de vue que l’école semble être un facteur important pour déterminer les performances des étudiants.

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Notes

  1. There are several types of high schools in Turkey. Science high schools, for example, focus on subjects related to science, mathematics and technology. Anatolian high schools teach some subjects through English (or sometimes German) as language of instruction. Private high schools, which are very competitive, charge high tuition fees.

  2. Students who constituted the sample of the present study started primary school when they were six years old. After five years of primary education and three years of lower secondary school (both of which are compulsory), 15-year-olds who wished to continue formal education entered high school (upper secondary), which they attended for four years (plus sometimes an extra year of language study). Higher education then consists of either four years at University, or two years at a Higher Vocational School.

  3. These three forms of private tutoring are reviewed in detail in Tansel and Bircan (2006, 2008) and Tansel (2013a).

  4. The Turkish Higher Education Entrance Examination (HEEE) is held every year in early summer in two stages. To pass the first stage, high school graduates have to answer 160 multiple-choice questions in 160 minutes. The exam form includes four subjects, namely Turkish, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences as separate subtests. Students who pass this exam take the second-stage exam, by choosing among five tests in different subject areas depending on their aptitude and the subject areas they are hoping to study at university. Each test has different number of items in multiple-choice format and is subject to a different timespan for completion. Students who fail this exam can repeat it the following year.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Department of Secondary Mathematics and Science Education, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Giray Berberoğlu

  2. Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Aysit Tansel

  3. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany and Economic Research Forum (ERF), Cairo, Egypt

    Aysit Tansel

Authors
  1. Giray Berberoğlu
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  2. Aysit Tansel
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Correspondence to Giray Berberoğlu.

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Berberoğlu, G., Tansel, A. Does private tutoring increase students’ academic performance? Evidence from Turkey. Int Rev Educ 60, 683–701 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-014-9436-y

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