MN Reading Corps

About MRC

About Minnesota Reading Corps -- Closing the achievement gap in Minnesota

Minnesota Reading Corps launched in 2003, serving preschool children in four Head Start agencies. The early results showed the program model was effective. The program quickly expanded to serve children age 3–grade 3 in many more locations throughout Minnesota.

Minnesota Reading Corps has grown each year to become the largest state AmeriCorps program in the country. There are over 750 Minnesota Reading Corps tutors currently serving in 500 Head Start centers, preschools, and elementary schools throughout the state. The program has plans to place more than 1,000 tutors in over 600 sites during the 2012-2013 school year.

 

Program Overview

Minnesota Reading Corps is an AmeriCorps program that provides trained literacy tutors for children age three to grade three.

Minnesota Reading Corps Overview

Minnesota Reading Corps is a statewide initiative to help every Minnesota child become a successful reader by the end of 3rd grade. The program places AmeriCorps members as literacy tutors in sites across Minnesota to implement a researched-based early literacy effort to help struggling readers. The Minnesota Reading Corps strategies are designed for both preschool-aged children and K–3rd grade students.

Minnesota Reading Corps in Kindergarten–3rd grade settings

Minnesota Reading Corps Elementary Literacy Tutors serve as one-on-one tutors and provide research-based interventions to students who are just below proficiency in reading. The tutors meet with each student daily for 20 minutes to build phonics, phonemic awareness, and fluency skills. A Response to Intervention (RtI) model is followed. Additional Minnesota Reading Corps members, serving as Volunteer Coordinators, also recruit and train volunteers to support literacy efforts within the school.