Tutors at Cuesta College are evolving with new ways of hiring and implementing tutors that will continue to change for the foreseeable future. The Embedded Peer Tutoring program will be conducted and funded differently.

Embedded tutors differ from traditional tutors in that they sit in the classroom with fellow students throughout the semester. They are aware of the exact topic because they are in the classroom and coordinate with the instructor every week. Additionally, embedded tutors can meet with students both in and outside the classroom to further support their learning.

While interaction with the embedded tutors is not mandatory, studies have shown that their effectiveness is noticeably higher if interaction is encouraged. This valuable role has grown in significance since COVID-19, as post-pandemic academic success at Cuesta College dropped to 74.62%, down from 82% prior to the pandemic. 

Since then, the college has clawed back to 77%, with EPT helping this trend, according to English Professor Matthew Fleming. “COVID also fundamentally changed the social interactions we have, and student-to-professor communication has shifted,” he said. Fleming further pointed to the social barrier that embedded tutors help bridge between apprehensive students and professors: “Tutors help in these situations, as they have no worries about speaking to the instructor,” he said.

College success is further challenged by the California Department of Education passing AB1705, a bill aimed at addressing the post-pandemic widening gap that Black and Hispanic students experience, with gaps of 7.53% and 7.96%, respectively, particularly in mathematics and English, compared to the student body average.

Funding for the EPT was given in large part by the California Department of Education to help implement the AB1705 Bill. This funding was limited to two years and it has expired. Colleges now have to find alternative sources of funding to pay tutors. At Cuesta, budgeting for and implementing the EPT system are now division chair items, rather than centralized processes.

AB 1705 works by placing students who would otherwise be in a developmental education class directly into a transfer-level accredited class. For example, instead of joining a pre-calculus class to familiarize students with algebra, a student is placed in Calculus I.

“Embedded tutors’ importance in the classroom grows significantly, because now, the breadth of pre-existing skills and knowledge is much wider,” Fleming said. “They have to help the professor straddle the large gap between the strongest and weakest students, as there is so much to cover in the semester, and the help is definitely needed in order to keep the class on track.”

The embedded tutors are seen as both a key asset to the academic success and post-pandemic resocialization on campus.

In an EPT study at Consumnes River College in Sacramento, the increase in students successfully completing the course that included embedded tutors, compared to the same course without tutors, was 14.6%, indicating that the added resource of a tutor is noticeable. “The fact that the tutor is someone students can go to to ask questions, especially if you might think the professor is intimidating, or you don’t want to bother them, that is what keeps some students from staying confused and thereby doing worse later in the course,” Fleming said. ”It lowers the stakes of asking questions significantly.”

Tutors also increase social levels on campus, with many seeing tutors as a first point of contact for forming social circles. “It creates a reason to stay after class, and to not drive home right away,” Fleming said. “The embedded tutors help people stay longer on campus and create a more study-friendly environment at Cuesta College.”

There is support among Cuesta faculty to expand the EPT program at Cuesta in the coming years.

“Recruitment is still an issue, as people don’t stay too long at Cuesta,” Fleming said. “We aim to keep some tutors around even after they graduate. That would really help.”

Anyone interested in becoming a tutor can reach out to the SSC or to an instructor whose class they would like to be embedded in. Student Engagement Director Mason Cleek finds the role rewarding. “It is a job, but also helps you learn a lot of skills and creates social Interactions,” he said. “Everyone benefits from it.”