Pay-for-performance tutoring?

The fee-for-service model in the service industry is a problematic one. It creates an undesirable set of incentives for the service provider, which does not involve improving service quality delivered to the consumer. The failures of the fee-for-service model in healthcare are well known-- physicians are incentivised to provide more services to the patient that are not necessarily for their benefit. This past semester, I took a health economics class in which we discussed the different compensation schemes and their characteristics. I thought, why not extend this to other service industries as well? When purchasing a service, we are at the whim of the individual service provider; we are dependent on his or her skills and ability as well as desire to offer service of the highest quality. Shouldn't it make sense that we turn this around and let the consumer be the judge of the service being provided? Pay-for-performance is the way to go in my book!


This would make a lot of sense in the tutoring industry. Currently, tutors are paid on an hourly basis rather than on the quality of the tutoring session. The impetus lies with the consumer to take the initiative and be willing to learn. The tutor is more concerned about the length of the session and is not as invested in his or her tutee's learning experience. With a pay-for-performance system, we could revise the payment scheme such that the tutor is paid per concept taught or per chapter taught. The tutees could take a mini-test of sorts once the concept/chapter has been taught to test their newfound understanding of the subject, and once a minimum score has been met, it could serve as proof that the tutor has actually done his or her job and justify payment. This shifts the initiative from the tutee to the tutor and requires him to be very well invested in his or her tutee's learning experience. Outcomes in the tutoring industry would improve dramatically. because the incentives have been set in the right place. In reality, this may be hard to lobby for as most tutoring agencies are for-profit machines that are far more concerned with the money they rake in than their customers' academic performances. Still something to think about though..