Program theory

Program Goals

ensure students who require academic or social assistance are identified in a timely manner
ensure students are obtaining the skills (academic or social) to become independent learners
ensure students are meeting with their support on a regular basis to ensure consistency
measure the progress made (either academically or socially) of the students enrolled in the program

Program Theory of Action

In theory, the Peer Tutoring and Buddy Up program are designed to assist students with academic or social challenges to ensure they are successful in their courses. The program is designed in a way that aims at supporting those students most in need by matching them with a student who can assist with their academic or social difficulties. Students can be enrolled in the program in one of three ways: self enrollment, guidance recommended enrollment or teacher recommended enrollment. In any case, the students are then matched with a peer who exhibits the skills that the student is lacking, and one who can support their needs.

The program lasts for as little or as long as a student requires. For academic cases, the student would remain enrolled in the program until one of the following three scenarios plays out:

the student's grades improve enough that they no longer need a peer tutor (i.e. they were in danger of failing the course, and now they are not).
the student continues peer tutoring sessions until the course ends and the student successfully obtains their course credit.
the student does not successfully obtain their course credit and continues the program the following semester when they retake the course. In this case, further intervention may be required.

For social cases, typically the student would remain enrolled in the program for at minimum 1 semester, but usually the student would remain working with their peer buddy for the entire academic year. At the end of the academic year, the teachers in charge of the program, plus the guidance counselors, would then conduct an evaluation of the student's progress to determine whether the student should continue with the program the following year, or whether they have made enough progress to no longer need a peer buddy.

Sormunen, E. (n.d.). Fig. 5.1. Task planning and reflective assessment. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276929677_Task-Based_Information_Interaction_Evaluation/figures?lo=1

Program Theory of Change

The results of the program can be identified by considering the following outcome statements:

if students are identified early, then the likelihood of academic success/social intervention is greater.
if students are matched with a peer tutor/buddy appropriately, then there will be noticeable advances in their academic/social achievements.
if students meet with their peer tutor/buddy on a regular basis, then positive results will be seen.
if guidance/teachers are monitoring progress of the students in the program, then the effectiveness of the program can be fairly evaluated.

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