Our current volunteer programs focus on Transitional Kindergarten through 6th grade across three Ravenswood schools. These programs have demonstrated significant positive impact, with teachers reporting improved reading levels and volunteers finding their work deeply rewarding.
Our approach to supporting students is multifaceted:
Circle City Readers aims to eliminate the literacy gap for K-3 students in Marion County through high-impact, small-group tutoring so that every Indianapolis student has the foundational skills needed to thrive in school and beyond. We serve the public school students most at-risk for not meeting grade-level literacy goals from the highest-need zip codes in Marion County.
WorldTutors is a direct peer-to-peer tutoring program, providing access to essential educational opportunities that include conversational English, literacy skills, mathematics, and digital literacy. We are currently able to teach students in English, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Our tutors, like our students, live across the globe.
Reading Through Times is a structured, program-based literacy tutoring service serving students in Grades 4–8 who can read fluently but struggle to explain meaning, analyze texts, or express ideas clearly in writing.
High-quality tutoring has emerged as an important post-pandemic strategy for helping struggling students in public schools. Research finds that tutoring often results in substantial additional learning gains when delivered during the school day, in small groups with the same tutors and multiple times a week for at least 10 weeks.
But this often comes with a substantial price tag — depending on the model and staffing approach, costs can range from $1,200 to $2,500 per student per year. During the pandemic, many districts relied on federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to launch or expand tutoring programs, but these have largely expired.
At Listen to Our Future, we go beyond traditional tutoring. Our approach emphasizes blended learning with academic wellness, ensuring every student gets the support they need while leveraging innovative technology. Beyond academics, students develop 21st-century employability and essential life skills. This prepares them to thrive in school, college, careers, and beyond. We are more than tutors; we are education mentors, guiding students toward long-term success.
High-impact tutoring has emerged as one form that researchers have shown actually works — when done well.
Stanford University researchers have found that high-impact tutoring works when it is embedded into the school day, happens at least three times per week in small groups, and matches the same tutors with students as much as possible. The Stanford researchers also found that tutoring is most effective when schools use data to identify students’ needs, and when tutoring materials align with research-backed and state standards.
Elkhart Public Library’s Growing Readers tutoring program helps preschoolers get on track for kindergarten and gives a boost to kindergarten to 2nd grade students who are falling behind in their school’s core reading curriculum.
Achievable offers a modern test preparation program built to help learners pass high-stakes exams quickly and confidently. The platform converts the full exam curriculum into clear, digestible lessons supported by memory science techniques, such as spaced repetition and retrieval practice, to ensure learners retain more information in less time. An adaptive engine personalizes each study plan, continually updating what users should focus on next, while realistic practice exams and smart analytics track readiness and highlight gaps.