Online Tutoring at Community Colleges

Educational institutions were severely challenged to shift online instruction to
accommodate non-site-based learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in the
spring of 2020. Faculty and institutions needed more resources to accommodate online tutoring
and support services to the capacity needed during the pandemic. Thus, they were motivated to
change their levels of online student support as one critical tool to increase student retention and
completion. Post-pandemic, we can examine the best online tutoring practices. The purpose of
this study was to describe and analyze the best practices in online tutoring that have positively
impacted student success in community colleges. Semistructured interviews were conducted with
eight community colleges that have robust online tutoring programs to discover their best
practices for online tutoring. Three themes emerged as institutions shared their best practices: the
importance of stakeholders’ support, institutional engagement, and standards for tutoring
programs. Many synchronous tools and supports were used to meet varied campus needs. Some
institutions interviewed utilized platforms that fulfilled multiple campus needs, such as academic
advising, financial aid, and tutoring in one software package. Two areas essential to improving
online tutoring programs were having a well-developed tutor training program and using
embedded tutors. These findings indicate the need for future exploration of online tutoring
support for community college students so that institutions work to eliminate barriers to student
success and completion.