Amarillo College officially becomes an AVID certified tutoring institution

On Sept. 23, AC’s Academic Success Center, which offers free tutoring to all students, received full AVID Postsecondary Tutor-Center Certification.

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a nonprofit that helps schools shift to a more equitable, student-centered approach by focusing on the Socratic tutorial process.

More than 40 AC peer tutors and professional tutors, and 6 AC tutoring center supervisors, received AVID training during the certification effort.

“This validates the commitment we’ve made to tutoring at Amarillo College,” said Jeannie George, director of student learning support. “This certification not only ensures that our tutoring is up to speed on best practices, and that our approach to tutoring sessions is consistent across all the disciplines, but it increases our expectations and ensures all centers are providing consistent and successful student support in a welcoming environment.”

With this certification, AC can implement AVID’s Postsecondary 6-Step Tutorial Model to sustain a consistent Socratic tutoring process.

Developed by the Greek philosopher, Socrates, the Socratic Method is a dialogue between teacher and students that fosters critical thinking and leads students to question their own assumptions.

In a letter congratulating the College on achieving AVID certification, Eileen Friou, senior director of AVID Learning Programs wrote: “Amarillo College has invested numerous resources into the tutoring services and is fully committed to building its capacity and exploring innovative ways to bring tutoring to students through various modalities, in the centers, or the classroom … We thank Amarillo College for this partnership and its commitment to student success.”

AC offers free tutoring on all its campuses as well as virtually, a format that has served students especially well since the advent of COVID-19. Help is available for pretty much any subject, and even technical support covering issues related to navigating email, Blackboard, Dropbox and more is freely offered at the Natalie Buckthal Center, in the Ware Student Commons, Room 113.

For more information about tutoring at AC, please call AskAC: 805-371-5000.