Peer Guidance : Tutors: Group study sessions led by A students help some struggling with ‘killer’ math and science courses at community colleges.

Pierce College student Karl Beutel figured he could handle his introductory biology course at the Woodland Hills campus this fall, at least until he did poorly on the first test. At that point, Beutel sought help, and the college had an innovative answer.

Beutel, 19, and other classmates were able to sign up for after-hours study sessions funded by the college and hosted by a student who has already passed the class with an A grade. The result, Beutel said, “has been very helpful. It will end up getting me a grade higher in the class.”

Hoping to lower failure rates among the many community college students whose college careers fall victim to so-called “killer classes,” often in math and sciences, educators are turning to A students to help solve the problem.

A group tutoring approach known as supplemental instruction, in which talented students guide their peers over academic hurdles, is slowly catching on at local campuses and is receiving high marks from both college educators and students.

“If I would have had somebody to guide me through the courses like these students are being guided, it would have made all the difference in the world,” said Yasmin Delahoussaye, who founded and oversees the 2-year-old program at Pierce that uses 10 paid student group leaders.

Particularly at the community college level where almost anyone can enroll, students who run into difficult classes often get frustrated and may simply drop out.

At Pierce College, for example, as many as two-thirds of the students in some basic chemistry and biology classes either drop the classes or fail to pass. Among all California community colleges, up to 40% of students who attend one term do not return for the next one, in part because of academic woes.

But recent college research shows that tutoring makes a difference. An analysis of a biology course at Pierce showed that 76% of the students who attended the special sessions received passing grades of A, B or C, compared to only about 50% among those who did not attend.

Pierce is one of more than 300 colleges and universities across the country that sponsor peer tutoring programs, according to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which developed the approach. Their research, although limited, suggests that participating students can boost their performance by up to a full grade and that dropout rates decline.

Among other local institutions, Glendale Community College has one of the largest programs, with up to 50 student leaders, and Cal State Northridge has just restored its program after a two-year hiatus. Pasadena City College began a small program in the fall, and Valley College in Van Nuys plans to start one in the spring.

*

Student leaders typically attend the classes with regular students. Later, in their group sessions--typically three hourlong meetings a week--leaders build on the course material, gearing the content to a specific class instead of a generic overview.

Students having difficulties tend to feel more comfortable voicing questions among classmates and benefit from working together, educators said.

This approach is in contrast to traditional tutoring programs at many colleges, where students receive one-on-one tutoring from high-achieving classmates, but don’t have the benefit of group interaction. Also, the tutor may not be familiar with the specifics of that particular course.

“I’ve seen supplemental instruction work and it really works well,” said Robert Stoneham, associate director of the learning resource center at Cal State Northridge. “It creates a learning community. The group work makes a big difference, and students are able to learn a lot faster.”

Valley College English instructor Rita Werner, who’s helping launch the program there, called it an opportunity for average students, not just the most troubled. “Who’s ever worried about the average or above-average students when they had trouble with the work?” she asked.

*

In a time of tight dollars in public higher education, hiring one student tutor for an entire class is far less costly than providing one-on-one tutoring for the same number of students. Group tutors typically are paid $6 to $7 an hour, or about $1,200 for a one-semester course.

Even so, the approach has its limitations. Because of funding constraints, the special tutoring sessions are typically linked to only a handful of high-risk courses with high failure rates.

And even though it was developed 21 years ago, the program has taken hold at less than 10% of the nation’s higher education institutions. Constant turnover among student tutors and program coordinators also has hurt consistency.

“Things in education tend to move rather slowly in terms of innovation. But I’m hoping we can light a fire under some things,” said Tyree Wieder, president of Valley College, which will soon employ eight student tutors.

Glendale College’s program faces an uncertain future because the federal grant funding that had supported the effort ran out this fall. It will continue this spring, “but next fall, everything’s pretty much up in the air,” said Jan Freemyer, who was hired to run the program.

At CSUN, top administrators support expanding their program, but have yet to find the money to do so.

Where the special tutoring sessions have been offered, student attendance often is small in the beginning, but tends to grow through the semester as students encounter difficulties and word spreads that participants are getting better grades, educators said.

*

Last week at Pierce, about one-third of Beutel’s classmates in the biology course gathered for their regular lunch-hour session to work on sample problems and talk about the kinds of questions they could expect on their class final.

“It’s pretty exciting when you feel like you can make a difference,” said Kim Case, the 27-year-old student group leader who passed the biology class with an A last spring and now helps other students through it. “I really like the program. I wish more of my classes had it.”

Added Brian Hodgson, 32, one of the students in Case’s group: “It’s certainly way helpful to bring out the things you don’t think about. Next semester, I’m going to look for other classes that offer it.”