College of Western Idaho (CWI) Tutoring Services was featured prominently in the October issue of The Learning Assistance Review (TLAR), the peer-reviewed journal of the International College Learning Association, highlighting CWI’s growing role in national and international conversations around academic support.
STEM Tutoring Services Supervisor, Isaac Johnson, along with Senior Research Analyst, Dani Navarre-Corisis; Assistant Director of Tutoring Services, Valerie Lee; and Consultant Specialist for Writing and AI Literacy Services, Jason Lowery, presented findings drawn from CWI tutoring data collected since the department began using the Upswing tutor-tracking platform in 2023. Since CWI’s founding in 2007, tutoring has been available to enrolled students at no additional cost.
The peer-reviewed study analyzed more than 10,000 tutoring sessions representing 1,862 students. Results showed that students who attended four to six tutoring sessions earned, on average, higher course outcomes than those who attended a single session, reinforcing the value of sustained academic support.
In the same issue of TLAR, Lee co-authored the first in a planned series of papers focused on defining learning centers and establishing best practices for staffing. Developed in partnership with three other schools, the research examined survey data from 86 institutions across the United States and Canada, including CWI, to better understand how learning centers operate and the services they provide.
Under the framework established in the study, CWI is categorized as a large, metro, two-year public institution. Establishing clear definitions for learning centers supports more informed decisions around staffing, budgeting, and service design, helping institutions reduce redundancy while maintaining student access to essential academic resources. This work also lays the groundwork for future research related to staffing ratios and sustainable learning assistance models.
Together, these publications highlight CWI Tutoring Services’ contribution to advancing the understanding of tutoring’s role and impact, both locally and across the broader higher education landscape.
Faculty and staff interested in exploring the research can access the full articles by visiting the Tutoring Services SharePoint and navigating to the Peer-Reviewed Articles section at the bottom of the page.
