As student achievement gaps continue to widen - especially in math and reading, districts are under immense pressure to deliver results with limited time, staffing, and funding.

At Paper, we built GROW with a singular focus: student outcomes.

GROW is our outcomes-focused high-impact tutoring solution, designed to reliably accelerate student learning at scale. Since launching in early 2024, it has been implemented in school systems across New Mexico, Louisiana, North Carolina, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Arizona—each of which brought unique priorities, constraints, and student populations.

But beyond the results, we’ve learned a great deal from the districts that took the lead. Here’s what we learned—and what might guide your own HIT journey.

Lesson 1: Start small—but start smart

Districts that saw the strongest early success with a pilot-first approach, selecting sites with both academic need and strong leadership. These sites didn’t just implement—they modeled.

In Visalia Unified School District, CA, district leaders embraced a “Learning Lab” approach. They partnered with two very different elementary schools: one with broader academic needs and another considered “high performing” but still struggling to meet the needs of 20–30% of its students. Both principals recognized that GROW could fill critical gaps without placing more pressure on teachers.

“Our job is not to tell them what to do, but to learn from them and multiply the bright spots,” said Mark Thompson, Assistant Superintendent, Learning and Leadership, Visalia USD

A focused, well-supported pilot built trust, generated early wins, and created internal champions to help scale the program districtwide.

Lesson 2: Don’t treat high-impact tutoring as a silo

HIT works best when it’s embedded into a broader intervention ecosystem—and that includes non-GROW students, too.

At Prairie Hills Elementary School District 144, Superintendent Dr. Kenosha Brown introduced a “community intervention model” that grouped all students into cross-grade communities named after the Harry Potter houses. Whether they were accelerating or catching up, all students had protected, purposeful time for academic growth.

“Please don’t use deficit thinking,” Dr. Brown emphasized. “We didn’t frame it as ‘you’re behind, so you’re in GROW.’ We celebrated it. Our Hufflepuff House kids had t-shirts, their own hallway. They encouraged each other and took pride in the work.”

Lesson 3: Build in support—and joy—for educators

Implementation thrives when teachers feel supported, not burdened. Several districts used existing intervention blocks, easing integration and maintaining instructional momentum.

“Our most successful campuses already had intervention time embedded in the master schedule,” said Carla Ragan, Executive Director of Federal Programs at Las Cruces Public Schools. “That made everything easier—students weren’t pulled from core instruction, and teachers didn’t feel like GROW was just ‘one more thing.’”

Professional development and alignment with pacing guides ensured that tutoring supplemented Tier 1 instruction, not duplicated or disrupted it. And some districts even used creative incentives to build buy-in and celebrate participation and attendance.

Lesson 4: Share the Data—and Never Lose Sight of the Students Behind It

As districts implemented GROW, the results were powerful.

• In Las Cruces, the percentage of GROW students reaching proficiency jumped from 20% to 42% in ELA and from 5% to 45% in Math—all in one semester.
• Prairie Hills saw a 60–75% reduction in the number of students performing three grade levels below, alongside significant increases in grade-level proficiency.
• In Visalia, students’ proficiency rates more than doubled—growing 2.7x over their first 12-week program.
  
  

These outcomes confirm what the research has long suggested: high-impact tutoring can drive real academic acceleration. But more than that, they reveal the potential of every student—when given the right support, and what sharing these results within the community can do for buy-in for programs like GROW. 

Still, it wasn’t just the data that moved district leaders. It was the students behind the numbers.

“Sometimes we forget that data points are children,” said Dr. Kenosha Brown. “We have to tell their stories. That’s how you build community, sustain momentum, and keep your ‘why’ front and center.”

One such story? For one fifth grader in Praire Hills, who had long struggled with confidence, GROW gave him the perception “I can do this.”

For leaders like Dr. Brown, progress starts with personalization.

“Be very intentional about your students,” she added. “Know how they got to be below grade level in the first place if you can. And focus on moving them forward.”

Behind every chart and benchmark is a learner—with their own history, barriers, and potential. The most effective GROW implementations never lost sight of that truth

Why This Matters Now

States across the country are embracing HIT not just as a recovery tactic, but as a long-term strategy. With frameworks like those from the National Student Support Accelerator and growing legislative support, HIT is no longer experimental. It’s essential.

But execution still matters. A lot.

When done right, high-impact tutoring doesn’t just close gaps—it builds momentum.

If your district is exploring how to make the most of high-impact tutoring, we’d be happy to share what we’ve learned, connect you with peers, and help you plan your next move.

Let’s reshape what success looks like—together