Lisa Stewart presents at NAEYC
Dr. Lisa Stewart, Professor of Psychology and Director of the School Psychology Graduate Program, and Minnesota Reading Corps colleagues Kate Horst and Dr. David Parker, presented a research poster at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference in Orlando, Fla., November 20, 2015. The poster, “Successful Kids and Satisfied Teachers: Preschool Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Key Components and Research Outcomes,” included an overview of the Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) model and outcomes from an external evaluation facilitated by MRC. PreK Minnesota Reading Corps utilizes Americorps members and a Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model. Based on the outcomes of the MRC PreK model, the Corporation for National and Community Service commissioned NORC to conduct a rigorous statewide quasi-experimental design study examining PreK MRC implementation and both child and educator outcomes and experiences. The research showed the MRC PreK model is successful and replicable. In some cases at-risk children even made stronger gains, thus reducing the dreaded achievement gap that appears even in early childhood (Markovitz, Hernandez, Hedberg, & Silberglitt, 2015).