Sustainability Matters: Advocating for the Establishment and Continuation of Peer-Led Team Learning

Abstract

The successful dissemination of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model at multiple institutions of higher education, in the United States and other countries, is reflected in the number of publications (see www.pltlis.org). However, many PLTL campus programs are no longer active or exist. This may be due, more recently, to the COVID pandemic and its disruptions. Historically, programs no longer exist because grant funding that supported the initiative ended; other reasons include the promotion, retirement, or even death of the practitioners whose work championing their PLTL program ended. What can sustain a campus PLTL program so that its benefits continue to accrue to students and Peer Leaders, and positively affect institutions’ retention, graduation rates, and mission over decades? This paper examines the strategies used to disseminate the PLTL model; presents suggested prescriptions for institutional adoption regarding climate, culture, and organizational learning; provides case studies of possible sustainability methods and compares the PLTL critical components to suggestions for creating sustainable educational innovations.