If tutors really do reliably produce two-sigma learning gains, then why aren't most top achievers the product of tutors? Yes, they're expensive, but perhaps "only" 2-3x private school; there are a lot of wealthy parents. Diminishing returns for high achievers?
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I am seeing more extremely wealthy people (eg billionaires) shift to tutors.
But even then you’re right, if it’s a full two sigma you would expect basically every high performer to be from a tutor.
Seems like there’s an asymptotic level of ultimate max performance?
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Or, more likely IMO, most tutors help a lot initially, but asymptote at modest levels of performance.
Many (most?) of the high performers I know had tutors who were themselves extremely talented.
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That's very interesting! Curious: when you say "tutors," would "mentors" or "coaches" work roughly as well? I wonder if I'm using the word differently: I can think of many high performers with mentors/coaches but few with personal instructors (a la Bloom).
I like "mentors" and "coaches" better because it feels like success more about encouragement and motivation than directly teaching someone knowledge and skills.
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Yes. Whatever is most appropriate for a person's growth at their current skill level. Many people will rapidly outgrow the kind of tutoring Bloom described.
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I like that way of unifying the terms!
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