Does rapport really make a difference in tutoring?

Tutoring, especially one-on-one tutoring, is a very personal service. Students can get to know their tutors pretty well, if the tutor is open to it.

We have always encouraged our tutors to get to know their students, and to develop a trusting connection with their students. Of course, tutors need to also be professional, and ours are very good at developing rapport and also maintaining professional boundaries and holding students responsible to their work. In fact, the rapport makes students more accountable to their tutor: they don't want to let the tutor down because they have such a good relationship with the tutor.

This is not only something we encourage our tutors to do, we screen for it when we search for the best tutors to join our team. It is not an accident that we have personable, engaging, sincere, passionate, and fun-to-be-around tutors on our team. This is by design.

So, does rapport really make a difference?

Absolutely. So many parents have told us that the first change they saw in their child was an attitude change or a shift in confidence. If the student could put this shift into words, it would sound something like this: "My tutor is cool/neat/great and I know I have the help I need, so I can go out and be more relaxed and perform up to my potential."

This attitude change comes from a good feeling the student has about the tutoring support, and that good feeling comes from the tutor. Tutors are humans, and humans are social beings - if a qualified in-home tutor can connect with a student, the student is far more likely to succeed.

So, when our tutors see that shift, we know the grade improvement is soon to follow. And parents love it because their child is sooo much easier to live with when he/she is not agitated, anxious, and short-tempered.