Serveminnesota Action Network

ADDRESS CRITICAL GAPS IN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY BY ENGAGING AMERICORPS MEMBERS AS LITERACY AND MATH TUTORS AND EMPLOYMENT NAVIGATORS.

MINNESOTA READING CORPS SERVED 33,014 STUDENTS DURING THE 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR, OF WHICH 19,857 WERE K-3RD GRADE STUDENTS AND 13,157 WERE PRE-K STUDENTS. OVER 80% OF THE K-3RD GRADE STUDENTS THAT PARTICIPATED IN READING CORPS HAD IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AS DEMONSTRATED THROUGH MAKING MORE THAN A YEAR'S WORTH OF GROWTH IN A YEAR'S TIME. THIS IS IMPORTANT AS IT DEMONSTRATES READING CORPS'S ABILITY TO HELP STUDENTS NOT ONLY MAKE PROGRESS BUT MAKE SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH PROGRESS ENABLING THEM TO CATCH UP TO THEIR GRADE LEVEL PEERS. READING CORPS ENGAGED 201 ON-GOING VOLUNTEERS AND 489 ONE-TIME VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTING LITERACY EVENTS.

MINNESOTA MATH CORPS SERVES 4TH-8TH GRADE STUDENTS BY PROVIDING TARGETED MATH INTERVENTIONS TUTORING TO PAIRS OF STUDENTS. DURING THE 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR MATH CORPS MEMBERS PROVIDED OVER 260,000 HOURS OF SERVICE TO 75 SCHOOL DISTRICTS, TUTORING OVER 4,000 STUDENTS. THE OBJECTIVE OF MATH CORPS IS TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE PROFICIENT IN ALGEBRA BY THE END OF EIGHTH GRADE. TO MEASURE THE PROGRAM'S SUCCESS, STUDENT GROWTH IS MEASURED BY ANALYZING SCORES ON THE STAR MATH ASSESSMENT. 60% OF STUDENTS THAT RECEIVED ONGOING TUTORING SERVICE FROM MATH CORPS MEMBERS SHOWED IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.

IN THE 2014-15 PROGRAM YEAR, THE MINNESOTA OPPORTUNITY CORPS PARTNERED WITH SEVENTEEN NONPROFIT AND COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING TO 3,125 PARTICIPANTS. EACH MEMBER RECEIVED THE NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED GLOBAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT FACILITATOR TRAINING, PREPARING THEM WITH THE TWELVE CORE COMPETENCIES WHICH HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY INDUSTRY EXPERTS TO HELP SUPPORT PARTICIPANTS IN FINDING AND RETAINING EMPLOYMENT. THE MINNESOTA OPPORTUNITY CORPS CONTINUES TO NARROW OUR FOCUS ON TRAINING, CREDENTIALING, AND EDUCATION FOR PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS TO BETTER ENABLE THEM TO ENGAGE IN CAREER PATHWAYS WHICH WILL INCREASE THEIR CHANCES OF OBTAINING LIVING-WAGE EMPLOYMENT. FOR THE 2014-15 PROGRAM YEAR, 523 PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS ENROLLED IN EDUCATION, TRAINING, OR CREDENTIALING PROGRAMS WITH 403 COMPLETING THEIR TRAINING. THE SUPPORT OF OUR MINNESOTA OPPORTUNITY CORPS MEMBERS ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO 721 PARTICIPANTS OBTAINING EMPLOYMENT, 240 OF WHICH WERE AT A LIVING WAGE. THE MINNESOTA OPPORTUNITY CORPS ALSO MOBILIZED 291 ONE-TIME AND 173 ONGOING VOLUNTEERS SERVING A TOTAL OF 4,791.75 HOURS