What is the double whammy effect? The best way to understand it is with an example. Let’s talk about Bob, a fifth grader, who is studying the properties of decimals and how to divide and multiply with decimals. He studies the material but doesn’t get it. He takes a test on it, and fails the test. But his class just keeps going forward, and when he gets to end of quarter test, he still doesn’t understand decimals, and fails the quarter test. He gets a D in the course even though he didn’t deserve it because the teacher likes him and doesn’t want to see him fail and have him repeat fifth grade. He is pushed through higher grade school mathematics but never understand decimals, so he misses all the questions that deal with decimals. He gets Ds in high school algebra. But he wants to go to college, so he prepares for the SAT exam. On the test, he misses all the questions on decimals, which brings his SAT math scores down substantially. Because of his low math grades in high school and his low math SAT scores, he is rejected at all the schools he applies to except some third tier schools. He attends a third tier school and majors in business, but because he doesn’t understand decimals, he makes only D’s in his business math class, required for his major. Business calculus is even worse for Bob, and he fails it twice before passing it on his third try. Meanwhile, his GPA is getting hammered due to his low math scores.
Bob does eventually graduate from college, but with a very low GPA. He wants to get a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) so he can get a great job in the business world. He studies for the GMAT, the entrance exam for business school, but because he doesn’t understand decimals, he scores poorly on the math section. He applies to several schools, and is summarily rejected at all but third tier schools because of his low math grades and test scores. At a single third tier school, he gets an interview, but the majority of the interview is devoted to why his math grades are so poor and his math GMAT scores are so low. He leaves with a bad feeling, and sure enough, he gets rejected even by this third tier school. Bob finally gets accepted at an unaccredited university with no real admissions standards to speak of.
Bob struggles through business school, making all D’s in his math classes because he never understood, and still does not understand, decimals. As he nears graduation, no job recruiters show up at his school because it is not even accredited and is a fourth tier school. After graduation, Bob has over $100,000 of student loan debt, but cannot find a job for 6 months after graduation, eventually settling for an assistant manager position at a local fast food chain. He isn’t even able to keep up with his minimum student loan payments, and his credit is subsequently ruined. He is forced at age 27 to move back home because he doesn’t make enough to live on his measly fast food chain assistant manager income.
How did things get so bad for Bob? Every failure Bob experienced went back to the fact that Bob never understood decimals that he was supposed to learn back in fifth grade. Let’s rewind the tape, and revisit the fifth grade. This time, Bob’s mother, Sally, gets his 6 week report in math that shows he is failing. Sally sets up a parent-teacher conference with Bob’s math teacher, Ms. Jones. At the conference, Ms. Jones confides that Bob is not keeping up with the rest of the class, and that she does not have enough spare time to give Bob all the help he needs to get him up to speed. When Sally gets home, she calls Logos Tutoring, and Sally and Logos Tutoring, set up a gap-closer plan to bring Bob up to speed on decimals. After the commencement of tutoring, Bob begins to close the gap on decimals, and his grades go from F’s to B’s. Bob conquers his fear of math. In the eighth grade, Bob is in the fast-track math class, doing algebra. In high school, Bob starts with second year algebra, and does calculus in his senior year. His grades are so excellent and his test scores so high that he gets in at Ivy University. At Ivy U, Bob aces Business Statistics, Finance, Business Calculus, and Economics. He maintains a high GPA and aces his GMAT exam. He gets into a top business MBA program on a full scholarship. He gets to do some awesome internships while in school at Fortune 50 companies and is heavily recruited. By graduation, Bob has multiple job offers to choose from, and takes a position in finance with a six-figure income and great perks. He pays off his relatively small student loans in just two years, buys a house in the best part of town, meets a great girl, marries her, have a bunch of kids, and they live happily ever after. Way to go Bob!
Hopefully we have made clear what the double whammy (and then some) effect is. Don’t do what Bob did. Don’t let your student get behind on the fundamentals. When you see that bad grade report in a tough class, get on it and get your student the help he or she needs, from his teacher, or if that is not possible, from a well-qualified academic tutoring firm, such as Logos Tutor. Good luck and Godspeed in avoiding the double whammy effect.
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