Anoka-Hennepin American Indian education program takes aim at achievement gaps - ECM Publishers

American Indian education is working to close achievement gaps in the Anoka-Hennepin School District.

While the district’s American Indian students are outperforming the state average for American Indians, there’s still an achievement gap between them and white students, according to a Feb. 24 presentation to the School Board by Todd Protivinsky, principal on special assignment.

“We have work to do to bring up the achievement of our American Indian students, and that is one of the goals of our American Indian Education program,” Protivinsky said.

American Indian students in Anoka-Hennepin are scoring significantly higher than state average for American Indians on MCA-III tests. In math, scores in the district held steady the last two years at around 40% proficiency, after dropping from 51.6% in 2017. The state average for American Indians was almost 27% proficiency in 2019.

Reading proficiency for American Indian students in Anoka-Hennepin has steadily increased since 2017, when 48% of students scored proficient on the MCA. In 2019 around 57% were proficient in reading, according to the Minnesota Report Card.

Science scores have held steady for the last two years at about 48% proficiency in Anoka-Hennepin. That’s twice the state average of almost 24% of American Indian students.

When compared to districts with similar sizes and demographics, Anoka-Hennepin has the highest reading proficiency rate of American Indian students. It is tied with Osseo and behind Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan in math and is at the top in science, according to board documents.

However, in 2019 almost 71% of white students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District scored proficient on the MCA-III math test, a difference of around 30 percentage points when compared to American Indian students. In reading, about 72% of white students scored proficient, a difference of 15 points, and about 68% of white students scored proficient in science, a difference of 20 points, according to the Minnesota Report Card.

The program’s goals for this year are to increase proficiency rates for American Indian students for reading in third grade from 70% to 75%, increase math proficiency from 40.1% to 43.1% and increase the four-year graduation rate from 76.3% in 2018 to 78.9% in 2019, according to board documents.

Anoka-Hennepin has seven Indian Education Advisors covering all K-12 schools, and the program is designed to encourage academic achievement, social and emotional development and cultural awareness of American Indian students in the district.

Academic support is provided through tutoring, cultural reading focuses for elementary students and college and career readiness, according to School Board documents.

In the district, 257 students meet the federal qualifications of American Indian, but that is a small portion of students who work with the American Indian education program, Protivinsky said. State qualifications, which allow for multiracial students with American Indian ancestry to count, puts the number at 1,192 students.

Funding comes from state and federal programs, the largest being Minnesota’s American Indian Education Aid, which provides almost $400,000. Approximately $13,600 comes from a federal Johnson O’Malley Grant and another $77,135 comes from the federal Title VI grant, according to board documents.