Reading & Math Inc

Causes: Education, Literacy, Remedial Reading & Encouragement

Mission: The mission of reading and math, inc. Is to transform lives while working to engage people in national service. We focus on replicating and expanding evidence-based programs to address critical gaps in educational achievement, economic opportunity and other emerging social issues.

Programs: Reading corps is a national literacy program designed to help more children become proficient readers by the end of third grade. A rigorous and independent evaluation by norc at the university of chicago revealed the program is closing the achievement gap. Students of color, students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch and english learners are achieving outcomes equal to or better than their peers. In fact, those with higher risk factors actually made stronger gains. Further, research conducted by the center for learning solutions has indicated that reading corps participants are three times less likely to be assigned to special education than non-participants, creating a permanent benefit to children and a significant ongoing savings to schools. During 2016-17 program year, reading corps served 25,148 students in minnesota, wisconsin and florida. The program utilized 144 volunteers in one-time and ongoing roles.

minnesota math corps is designed to help 4th-8th graders achieve proficiency in math, a critical gateway skill for high school graduation, college admission and college completion. During the 2016-17 school year, math corps members served in 110 schools where they provided tutoring to students at risk for not achieving proficiency. Program data indicates students receiving math corps tutoring are catching up to their peers. 56% of students served exceeded their expected growth targets. These results are particularly encouraging given that 100% of students tutored by math corps were at risk for not achieving proficiency.

through the innovative approaches to literacy (ial) grant, provided by the u. S. Department of education, reading & math, inc. (rmi) was able to provide more than 106,000 books to over 14,000 students across the reading corps national network during the 2016/2017 school year. In addition, each of the 322 eligible schools received a set of books to use within their library. Through the ial grant rmi was also able to expand the total learning classroom model (formerly known as promise neighborhood model) to 3 schools in minnesota and launch a national learning community to continue refining the model. To continue building capacity for schools, rmi completed ongoing professional development opportunities for coaches at reading corps institute, train the trainer, and the reading corps national meeting, and two research studies launched in wisconsin and florida, with results anticipated in the summer of 2018.

minnesota opportunity corps partnered with fifteen nonprofit and community-based organizations to provide employment support and skill development training to 3,301 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 focuses 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 2016-17 program year, 588 participants completed a training program. The support of our minnesota opportunity corps members also contributed to 520 participants obtaining employment, 205 of which were at a living wage. The minnesota opportunity corps also mobilized 139 one-time and 85 ongoing volunteers, serving a total of 1,261 hours. Reading corps national replication: reading & math, inc. Provides technical assistance, training and evaluation to other states that are either in the planning or implementation phase of replicating the minnesota reading corps model. While providing oversight and consulting reading and math, inc. Ensures the essential elements of the model are delivered with fidelity and also delivers data management and evaluation services. During the 2016-17 program year, reading & math, inc. Provided ongoing support for programs in california, colorado, massachusetts, michigan, virginia, maryland, north dakota, iowa, missouri and washington d. C.