GO Advocating for High-Impact Tutoring in Connecticut

March 2025
Elizabeth Warner 

Each year, state and district leaders face difficult decisions about how to spend limited dollars. With budgeting season upon us, decision makers must invest in evidence-based interventions for students. And, as observers at a recent CT Legislative Roundtable learned, high-impact tutoring is among the most powerful proven interventions offered. The roundtable offered perspectives from parents, policy and implementation experts, and tutors – including GO Fellow Ebony McMillan who serves in East Hartford, CT.

The opportunity 

Roundtable sponsor, Legislature State Representative Jennifer Leeper offered a stark account of need in Connecticut schools: “We know our kids are in crisis. We have more students not reading on grade level than reading on grade level in Connecticut. And there couldn’t be something more important than addressing that with bold action and urgency and these are the folks that have been committed to exactly that work.” 

Bob Janes, who manages East Hartford’s high-impact tutoring program, which is delivered by the GO Tutor Corps, explained that the students who work with GO Fellows are doing better than students in their traditional intervention program. Specifically, data from East Hartford shows that, on the Smarter Balanced Assessment, Math Lab students achieved an average of 23 points of growth and reached 51% of their target, surpassing students without a GO Fellow who averaged 13 points of growth and 47% of their target: “The difference was remarkable, both in confidence and achievement scores. We see our students who work with tutors not just catch up, but exceed their classmates. It’s something that I am so grateful to be a part of. And something that I really hope we continue to do.”

McMillan highlighted the crucial role relationship building plays: “For me, it’s being able to see the kids that I work with every day and the small wins. These kids are struggling, these kids have so much going on in their lives, and for 30 to 40 minutes a day they get to come into a classroom and work with me and have so many victories. They get to walk out with a smile on their face and be proud of their work and come back ready to try again tomorrow and the next day. And that’s something that I am so honored and thankful to be a part of… I get to see that what I do matters to the people around me, the students, the families, the teachers in the building, and the people in my community.” 

Janes added later, “it’s also the ripple effect. If you have a student in a regular math classroom in seventh grade math. They go see their tutor and they come back the next day and they’re energized, they’re confident, and that student is going to participate more in that class. Is going to require less intervention from their regular math teacher so other students can benefit, and also may, we’ve seen this happen a lot, become a resource for their classmates. It spreads into the entire class and the entire school.”

“These kids are struggling, these kids have so much going on in their lives,
and for 30 to 40 minutes a day they get to come into a classroom
and work with me and have so many victories.
They get to walk out with a smile on their face and be proud of their work.”

Ebony McMillan

The case for sustained funding 

Connecticut spent $10 million in ESSER funds to get high-impact tutoring programs off the ground. It’s important for new funding to be passed to ensure that momentum continues for students to see maximum growth and results. 

Before the Roundtable Bob spoke about the why his students would suffer if high-impact tutoring didn’t happen in his school: “We have seen such a profound impact on our students and school community from tutoring in terms of academic success, confidence, and even attendance that it would be such a shame for it to go away. I want our students to continue to feel that success, especially in middle school – a specifically critical time in their lives.” 

Janes closed with a strong defense of high-impact tutoring in Connecticut: “When you’re looking at return on investment. East Hartford, and I think all Connecticut schools, is really primed for high-impact tutoring. We’ve had this grant for the last couple of years. We’ve seen the success. A lot of districts have programs that are already built, partnerships created, and parents invested. And so the dollars that are being spent now would have an even higher return on investment than the past because the start-up costs aren’t there anymore. We’re ready to help kids in the classroom, to train tutors, and to really benefit the community.” 

“We need state governments to invest in high-impact tutoring,” GO President Michael Duffy asserted, “States buying into an evidence based practice is crucial for students to excel. Every student deserves a tutor. Let’s make it happen and fully fund high-impact tutoring in Connecticut.”