Ideas at work

Learn about collaborations and initiatives working to better serve students, and find proven strategies for action.

initiatives and collaborations

Achievement Plus
A holistic approach to school reform.

College Readiness Consortium
Helps students master the knowledge, skills and habits for success in higher education.

Learning in Cities St. Paul
St. Paul is a national demonstration city for A New Day for Learning, a partnership between the Center for Democracy and Citizenship and the City of Saint Paul Mayor’s Office that involves the Saint Paul Public School District, many community-based organizations, and individuals, in continuing work to ensure that all children and youth have access to those multiple ways to learn.

LearnMoreMN
Promotes discussion to identify solutions to ensure that more Minnesota children succeed in school and pursue higher education.

Minnesota Minority Education Partnership
Seeks to increase success of students of color in Minnesota schools, colleges and Universities.

Minnesota P-16 Partnership
Works to improve the student transition to postsecondary education.

Minnesota's Promise
Outlines a call to action from 25 current and former superintendents throughout Minnesota to transform public education in our state.

Minnesota Reading Corps
A statewide initiative to help every Minnesota child become a successful reader by the end of 3rd grade. The program places AmeriCorps members in sites to implement a researched-based early-literacy effort to help struggling readers.

A new vision for Saint Paul Schools
A report of the Citizen League study to prepare all students for higher education.

Schools for Equity in Education (SEE)
Works to ensure that all schools funding is as equal as possible.

Research-based strategies

Listed below are proven, effective strategies linked to reports that provide data and information about how the strategies were implemented.

Alignment of curriculum, instruction, standards and assessment (2)
- Similar students, different results: Why do some schools do better?
  EdSource, October 2005
  Large scale survey of California elementary schools serving low-income students. Provides practices found to be associated with high performance.
- What works with low-performing schools
  AEL, January 2002, 26 pp.
  A research review reporting on what works in developing high-performing schools and what it takes to sustain them.
Career/college preparation and support (1)
- Effectiveness of programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth
  Wilder Research, November 2006, 31 pp.
  A literature review of the effectiveness of outreach programs to improve postsecondary education enrollment and success of underrepresented youth.
Challenging, rigorous curriculum (4)
- Similar students, different results: Why do some schools do better?
  EdSource, October 2005
  Large scale survey of California elementary schools serving low-income students. Provides practices found to be associated with high performance.
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
- Inside the black box of high-performing high-poverty schools
  Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, January 2005, 30 pp.
  Looks at high-performing, high-poverty schools in Kentucky to determine how they break the usual pattern of low achievement.
- It takes more than testing: closing the achievement gap
  Center on Education Policy, April 2001, 47 pp.
  Provides educational stakeholders with information about how to close the achievement gap in education. Includes background information, analyzes the nature and extent of the achievement gap, and outlines leading strategies for closing it.
Early childhood education (2)
- Reducing the high school dropout rate
  Annie E. Casey Foundation, July 2009, 16 pp.
  This brief outlines strategies for reducing the dropout rate.
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
Early intervention (2)
- Reducing the high school dropout rate
  Annie E. Casey Foundation, July 2009, 16 pp.
  This brief outlines strategies for reducing the dropout rate.
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
Effective leadership (1)
- What works with low-performing schools
  AEL, January 2002, 26 pp.
  A research review reporting on what works in developing high-performing schools and what it takes to sustain them.
Individualized instruction and/or alternative schooling (1)
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
Mentoring/tutoring (2)
- Structuring out-of-school time to improve academic achievement
  Institute of Education Sciences, July 2009, 98 pp.
  Presents five recommendations intended to help district and school administrators, out-of-school program providers, and educators design out-of-school time programs that will increase learning for students. Each recommendation is accompanied by supporting research, implementation steps and ways to address potential roadblocks.
- State and local implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act: Volume I -- Title I school choice, supplemental educational services, and student achievement
  U.S. Department of Education, June 2007, 63 pp.
  Students in underperforming schools generally made statistically significant gains in math and reading after participating in supplemental educational services such as tutoring and remediation, per this study.
Parent-family involvement (4)
- Seeing is believing: Promising practices for how school districts promote family engagement
  Harvard Family Research Project, July 2009, 16 pp.
  Core components of successful strategies to create and sustain family engagment.
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
- It takes more than testing: closing the achievement gap
  Center on Education Policy, April 2001, 47 pp.
  Provides educational stakeholders with information about how to close the achievement gap in education. Includes background information, analyzes the nature and extent of the achievement gap, and outlines leading strategies for closing it.
- Family involvement to promote student achievement : a "best practices" literature review
  Wilder Research, July 1999, 21 pp.
  This literature review discusses barriers to involvement, types of involvement that are linked to student achievement, and strategies for increasing family involvement in schools.
Small class size (2)
- Smart investments in Minnesota's students: A research-based investment proposal
  Growth & Justice, October 2008, 32 pp.
  Shows how to apply what is known about cost-effective investments in education to address a looming shortage of educated workers that could undermine the state’s economic well being.
- It takes more than testing: closing the achievement gap
  Center on Education Policy, April 2001, 47 pp.
  Provides educational stakeholders with information about how to close the achievement gap in education. Includes background information, analyzes the nature and extent of the achievement gap, and outlines leading strategies for closing it.
Well-qualified teachers with development opportunities (1)
- What works with low-performing schools
  AEL, January 2002, 26 pp.
  A research review reporting on what works in developing high-performing schools and what it takes to sustain them.