We regularly conduct research at Schoolhouse to better understand the effectiveness of tutoring techniques and the impact of peer tutoring as a whole. ​Our goal is to learn what kinds of peer tutoring approaches best improve the Schoolhouse experience for all learners and tutors.

In our studies, learners are asked to attend their peer tutoring sessions and complete practice work associated with those sessions. Volunteer tutors are asked to lead tutoring sessions. In addition, participants may be asked to complete occasional surveys, short exercises, and participate in focus groups about their feelings toward the sessions. Participation is voluntary, and you can stop at any time by not attending sessions.

Because many Schoolhouse participants are under 18, we require parental or guardian consent before sharing any data with trusted partners for research purposes. Tutors and learners under 18 cannot participate in research without this consent.

We require all users to provide a parental or guardian contact since most of our users are minors. If you’re over 18, you can list any individual aged 18 or older for this consent.

In these studies, you will not be evaluated on your responses to any of the study tasks. Your responses will be confidential, and this program will not be linked to standardized test scores or the college application process (unless you choose to share your Schoolhouse experiences in your college applications).

As part of research studies, some of your data (e.g., survey feedback, practice test results, bootcamp attendance) will be securely shared with trusted partners like College Board, Stanford University, and other academic researchers. These organizations are bound by strict data privacy and security standards. This data will be used solely for the purposes of research.

We never sell personal information or share it with third parties for commercial purposes. Aggregate or de-identified data may be shared through research publications or other presentations. If research results are made public, no personally identifiable information will be released without the user's (or their parent's) explicit permission.

Additionally, in order to study the effect of tutoring interactions on learning, Zoom audio, transcript, and chat data from tutoring sessions may be securely shared with College Board, Stanford University, and other academic researchers. If shared in research publications or other presentations, this data will be de-identified and will not include any personally identifiable information.

Participation at Schoolhouse is voluntary, but if you choose to participate in sessions, you are also choosing to participate in the associated research study. Because the sessions are designed as part of research, there is no way to opt out of the research study or the general data sharing with research partners.