Monticello aspires to be the ‘Little Community That Could’ create proficient readers

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Monticello is “The Little Engine That Could” when it comes to reading. It aspires to become the community with the most proficient readers with the fewest inequities and to accomplish it in the shortest time imaginable. Its benchmarks are to assure every child is “wired” to read by age 3 and reads proficiently at grade level.

It all started when Monica Martin, a member of Monticello’s Rotary Club, heard a presentation about the scope of the reading problem. Martin, an immigrant from Colombia, works as a real estate agent and is a member of the statewide group Latinos Helping Latinos.

The first question following the presentation was to Jeremiah Mack, the Monticello school district’s director of community education: “Is this the case in Monticello?” Mack reported that Monticello’s reading proficiency scores had dropped from 71% in 2018 to 54% in 2023. Among these statistics are unacceptable inequities that the district is committed to resolve. As startling as these numbers are, Monticello is doing better than the statewide average.

The second hand raised was Martin’s: “I would like to create a model for the Spanish-speaking community that could be replicated elsewhere,” she said. After the meeting she contacted Eric Olson, superintendent of Monticello Public Schools.

Olson gathered his directors of early childhood education, literacy, teaching and learning, and community education, along with Martin, to learn about a “community innovation” technique that has been used successfully for more than four decades to mobilize a community’s social capital to solve social problems.

Martin and Olson are now championing “Monticello’s Rally to Read.” While the school district is implementing the Minnesota Read Act mandates that align teaching pedagogy with the science of reading, the community can mobilize to ensure that every child crosses the threshold of a classroom with a brain that is wired to read.

Olson said he set a “moonshot” goal and is overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to his call to action. More than 60 people representing a broad, multi-sector mix of the community gathered at their first forum energized and eager to take action with “a fierce urgency of now.”

It didn’t take months or years of deliberation. In just two forums (five hours’ total time), they will showcase best practices and mobilize action teams to:

• Raise awareness and inform the community of the challenge and potential solutions.

• Optimize each touchpoint with parents, guardians and children to provide resources and inform adults of the concrete actions everyone can take to stimulate brain development.

• Ensure every child has a nurturing adult.

• Make certain no child gets left behind by launching appropriate interventions at the right time, right intensity and with the right resources.

• Implement culturally curated strategies to fit unique needs of communities within the greater community.

The beauty of “community innovation” is that it is quick, cheap, unencumbered by bureaucracy and focused on delivering results that matter.

Imagine if communities across the state were also rallying to read, sharing best practices and having friendly competition to create the most proficient readers. Advocates are asking the Legislature for an appropriation to launch prototypes in 12 communities. An investment of $250,000 from the Legislature matched by private funds would incentivize multi-sector coalitions to tap Minnesota’s social capital, including its parents, early childhood care providers, teachers, literacy experts, pediatricians, health care providers, faith communities, civic organizations, businesses, sports teams, nonprofits, musicians, artists and actors, elected officials, state agencies, higher education leaders and other influencers.

Several other bills introduced this legislative session by children’s advocacy organization Think Small would expand the Minnesota Read Act to focus on the critical literacy development that occurs during the first three years of life. Communities “Rallying to Read” can immediately transform policy into practice.

Monticello’s communitywide commitment is already paying dividends. It’s increasing awareness of the consequences for a child who can’t read, raising optimism that the problem can be solved, prioritizing brain development before age 3, educating action teams about research-proven programs that make the most impact, and clarifying the role of the schools while increasing scrutiny and accountability.

Approximately 70,000 children are born in Minnesota every year. Eighty percent of a human brain is developed by age 3. It typically takes years to transform a bill into a law.

Why bring up these statistics? We already have 500,000 students in our K-12 system who can’t read proficiently. Let’s not add hundreds of thousands to that unconscionable statistic by failing to invest in children now. The best gift Minnesotans can give our children is implementing what research tells us delivers results.

Can anyone point to the child or children who don’t deserve equitable opportunities to optimize the development of their brain?

Monticello believes it is “The Little Community that Could.” Could it inspire Minnesota to become “The State that Did?”

Tim Reardon is a public affairs consultant living in St. Paul.