Saturday's Washington Post contained a long article praising the effectiveness of the Minnesota Reading Corps program, especially for closing the achievement gap. It is one of the programs run by ServeMinnesota; an organization where I’ve served as board member for several years.
A recent study by the University of Chicago found remarkable results obtained by students taking part in MN Reading Corps tutoring programs. The Chicago study found that students in MN Reading Corps improved on test scores on the five main literacy areas an average of three times what the U.S. Department of Education considers to be a very effective program. Whether in poor areas of Washington DC and Detroit, or in the rural areas of Minnesota and North Dakota, the results were astounding.
The program is run in conjunction with AmeriCorps volunteers. The volunteers receive a stipend and some financial help, and when done, get a scholarship for higher education. In each school, there is a "coach" who closely watches the volunteers as they work with students. Our program is so effective it has been copied in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Virginia, Colorado, North Dakota and the District of Columbia.
To read the full article, click on:
Can volunteers help kids read more proficiently? New research says yes