After scores on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) about 10 years ago posted some average scores in math compared to the rest of the nation, Minnesota decided to devote more instruction in the classroom towards math. Nowadays, teachers spend more than an hour and a half on math compared to a measly 30 minutes in 1995. Scores were also helped by academies the state developed in order to teach teachers how to make math more relevant and exciting.
The increase in math scores is good news alone but to see that an important increase in math scores with students of color shows an even important one. The achievement gap between whites and students of color has been a thorn in Minnesota's side for a long time now, and although colored students have made an increase in math scores, the gap still remains.
Overall, 65 percent of students were proficient in math this year. That's almost a 7 percentage-point increase from 2006. Reading, however, saw 72 percent meet the state's reading goal, which is barely a percentage-point increase over the past five years. According to Alice Seagren, Minnesota Education Commissioner, "Reading has been stagnant nationally. We'd like to be different in Minnesota."
To help with the reading scores some schools bring in the Minnesota Reading Corps. In South Washington County school district, the MRC tutored 129 students who were reading below grade level. By the end of the school year, 82 percent of the students were proficient in reading. "That was substantially encouraging and why we're expanding," said Rick Spicuzza, the district's assistant superintendent of curriculum and assessment. Because of the substantial progress, the Reading Corps will expand and volunteer at 11 sites in the district next year.
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http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_15415012?nclick_check=1
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