In the spring of 2016, almost all eighth-graders at a small, public school affiliated with Columbia University decided to stay after school for a few weeks to study math. They were preparing for a critical test, the New York State’s Regents examination in algebra. Half of the children came from Harlem or upper Manhattan families living below the poverty level. They were from a selective middle-school and advanced enough to take algebra in eighth grade rather than ninth. Many others were the children of Columbia professors, and none of them – rich or poor – really needed help passing the test.
Researchers set up a class of reviewers to test their theory on the best way to prepare for an exam. Half of the students attended a traditional review course for the first eight sessions. They were given a Barron’s Regents review study guide with lots of practice problems. Teachers worked through the first part of the problems and explained step by step how to…
