A Program Evaluation of a Promising Peer Tutoring Program

Abstract

This capstone project is a program evaluation of a peer tutoring and mentoring program that targets mathematics courses offered at a community college located in Northwest Florida. Social constructivist understandings of learning undergird the program’s theory of change and implementation strategies. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the program’s success in meeting its current goals and aspirational goals suggested by the literature in the field and stakeholder feedback and to offer recommendations for improvement and potential program expansion. The project has a mixed methods study design and relies upon stakeholder surveys, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews with key program stakeholders to answer the project’s core questions. The study suggests that the program has some notable strengths, particularly in its potential to enhance the classroom learning experience and to produce positive social outcomes for program participants. Areas for potential improvements include providing additional professional development for the tutors and faculty mentors in the program, developing formalized tracking systems for tutoring participation, and working to make the in-class experience more homogenous so that the program can amplify its academic and affective impact on students and demonstrate the program’s efficacy.