Acceleration in Math and ELA Through High-Impact Tutoring in Las Cruces Public Schools

Case Study Overview:

Scope | 470+ students | Grades 3–5 | 2 semesters | Bilingual-inclusive model
Focus | Math + ELA (general & advanced)
Impact | 380% math growth | 91% increase in Advanced ELA mastery

Las Cruces Public Schools serves a large, diverse elementary student population across multiple sites, including bilingual and multilingual learners. The district sought a scalable tutoring solution that could drive measurable growth in both Math and ELA, strengthen standards mastery, and support students across general and advanced programs.

Over two consecutive semesters, GROW partnered with Las Cruces to deliver structured, standards-aligned high-impact tutoring across grades 3–5.

Las Cruces needed:

• Academic acceleration across multiple schools
• Support for both general and advanced learners
• Stronger mastery of grade-level standards in Math and ELA
• A model that could scale across 400+ students
• Consistent engagement and measurable growth

The district’s challenge was not isolated. It required a multi-site, multi-grade solution with consistent instructional rigor.

GROW delivered:

• Standards-aligned tutoring in ELA, Advanced ELA, Math, and Advanced Math
• Structured lesson design with modeling, guided practice, and exit tickets
• Real-time feedback and differentiation
• Clear progress monitoring from regular exit tickets to pre- to final assessments
• Engagement routines that encouraged student talk, visibility, and confidence

Across both semesters, 470+ students participated with overall attendance near 80%.

The Impact

ELA

• 28% relative increase in the number of students scoring 80% or higher from pre to final assessment
• Advanced ELA saw a 91% relative increase in students scoring 80%+
• 5th Grade ELA improved 10 points overall, with a 63.75% relative increase in students scoring 80%+
• 3rd Grade Advanced ELA increased 18 points, with a 175% relative increase in students scoring 80%+

Strong Standards Gains:

• Distinguishing literal vs. nonliteral language: +18 percentage points in 3rd Grade Advanced ELA, with a 175% relative increase in students scoring 80% or higher.
• Citing textual evidence to support analysis and inferences: Substantial growth in 4th Grade (RL.4.1) and 5th Grade (RL.5.1), with final mastery levels reaching 80%+ in several cohorts.
• Analyzing theme and author’s craft: Strong gains in 5th Grade ELA, including a 10-point overall score increase and a 63.75% relative increase in students scoring 80%+.
• Comparing informational text structures: Notable improvement in 5th Grade (RI.5.5), contributing to overall double-digit score gains from pre to final.

Math

• Students scoring 70%+ increased by 380% district-wide
• 4th Grade Math improved 13 points, with a 247% relative increase in students scoring 80%+
• 5th Grade Math increased from 60% to 84% average
• 5th graders achieved 100% mastery on two key place-value standards
• 3rd Grade bilingual pods improved from 33% to 67%, with 0% passing at baseline to 50% passing at final

Students strengthened skills in:

• Multi-step problem solving: 4th grade students improved +31 percentage points on multi-step operations and problem-solving standards (4.OA.A.3), reaching a 62% final average.
• Fraction reasoning and division: 5th graders showed major growth in fraction operations, including +20 percentage points in fraction addition and subtraction (5.NF.A.1), with final averages reaching 81%. Students also demonstrated strong gains in dividing unit fractions and whole numbers.
• Place value and operations: 5th grade students achieved exceptional gains in place value, including an +84 percentage point increase (16% → 100%) on a key place-value standard (5.NBT.A.3.b) and a +32 point increase to 100% mastery on another base-ten standard.
• Algebraic thinking foundations: 3rd graders improved +50 percentage points on early multiplication concepts (3.OA.A.1) and +40 points on fluency with multiplication and division facts (3.OA.C.7), signaling strengthened readiness for upper-grade algebraic reasoning.

Attendance and Growth

Attendance averaged 78–79% across semesters.

Students attending 90%+ of sessions improved 15.79 points more than peers with lower attendance (32.67 vs. 16.88), reinforcing the relationship between consistent participation and academic acceleration.

What This Means for Las Cruces

Across two semesters, Las Cruces demonstrated that high-impact tutoring can:

• Scale across hundreds of students
• Drive strong ELA and Math growth simultaneously
• Accelerate both general and advanced learners
• Support multilingual students effectively
• Produce measurable standards mastery gains in a single cycle

The Bottom Line

Las Cruces implemented a district-scale, multi-subject tutoring model and saw measurable growth across schools, grades, and student groups.

When high-impact tutoring is structured, aligned, and consistently implemented, district-wide acceleration is achievable.