posted on
by Asian American Press staff in the Asian American Press on Thursday, February 25, 2016
MinnCAN, an education advocacy nonprofit in Minneapolis, has released a strength-based narrative report, ‘Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Achievement in Minnesota.’ The report shares promising practices from three schools that are changing the odds for their AAPI learners, and offers policy recommendations to help even more schools replicate their success:
- Noble Academy in Brooklyn Park;
- Phalen Lake Hmong Studies Magnet School in St. Paul; and
- Weaver Elementary School in Maplewood.
MinnCAN’s report states that the practices at these three schools cover everything from parent engagement to celebrating students’ native language and culture. The report recommended that the best practices of these schools will inspire other schools across the state and country.
Other policy recommendations from the MinnCAN report include measures to:
- Disaggregate student data by ethnic community, to allow policymakers and educators to better evaluate student outcomes across schools and districts and to identify which students need the greatest support.
- Track “Total English Learners” in order to more closely and accurately monitor the long-term success of English learners and the programs that serve them.
- Increase teacher diversity by investing state dollars in programs that are already successfully recruiting and supporting educators of color, removing licensure barriers for out-of-state teachers, improving the licensure process for community experts and more.