Tutoring: a support strategy for at-risk students

A longitudinal research study was conducted at a public university in Pennsylvania on a sample of 129 at-risk students from a state-funded program (Act 101) designed to provide support services for economically and educationally disadvantaged students. This research employed a non-experimental, ex post facto methodology to assess the impact of tutoring on persistence, retention, and graduation. Study variables included measures of academic performance, retention, use and frequency of tutoring, the number of years in college, gender, and total credits earned toward graduation. Data were analyzed with t-tests, chi-square tests, multivariate and multiple regressions, and logistic regression. Results of the study showed that tutoring had significant positive relationships with retention and academic performance and demonstrate that tutoring can be effective as a strategy for succeeding to graduation. Tutoring as a mode of instruction has a long history in higher education. Early European colleges, royalty, and the upper classes used tutoring as one of the primary forms of instruction, and such instruction continued well into the 19th and early 20th centuries across most of Europe and the United States (Gordon & Gordon, 1990). In many colleges today, tutoring continues to be an integral part of academic support programs designed for the general student population. Academic support programs often target at-risk students, such as those likely to drop out of college due to inadequate preparation. Despite the extensive use by higher education of tutoring as a mode of instruction and as a learning strategy, few comprehensive studies have assessed the benefits derived from tutoring. A review of the literature suggests that some indirect effects achieved by tutoring include persistence, academic achievement, retention, and degree attainment (Astin, 1993