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Columbus Elementary officials report Math Corps tutoring raised student scores in early implementation
Summary
School leaders and AmeriCorps partners told the Forest Lake Area Schools board that two years of Math Corps tutoring at Columbus Elementary has produced measurable growth on Math Corps assessments and helped struggling students, though capacity limits mean many eligible students are not yet served.
Columbus Elementary Principal Neil Fox and school staff told the Forest Lake Area Schools board on April 3 that Math Corps, an AmeriCorps program supplying trained math tutors, has produced measurable gains for the students who received intervention.
Fox said Math Corps provides trained tutors who deliver evidence-based, small-group interventions that supplement — not replace — core classroom instruction. Academic support specialist Britney Jakubiak described the program structure: kindergarten–grade 3 groups meet daily for 20 minutes, while grade 4–6 groups meet for an equivalent of 90 minutes across a six-day cycle.
Jakubiak and tutor Tina Grimes presented program data. In kindergarten–third grade, 62 students were identified as needing support, 28 received Math Corps interventions this year and 26 of those showed growth on the Math Corps benchmark between the fall and winter assessment. Grimes told the board her caseload included 25 students this year and that some students posted gains “even over 20%” on the Math Corps assessment. The presentation noted examples of individual student gains and said the program aligns material to Common Core and coordinates with classroom pacing.
School leaders described the local costs and funding model: buildings must supply a workspace and laptop; this year Columbus’s parent group paid a $1,500-per-tutor fee. Fox said the district is monitoring whether that fee will continue but that the PTO has indicated willingness to sustain it if needed. Board members asked about capacity; Jakubiak said current constraints are primarily the number of tutors available and scheduling without pulling students from core instruction.
Board members and administrators also discussed how Math Corps data correlates with other measures. Fox and Jakubiak said the district sees correlation between Math Corps assessment gains and FastBridge and MCA results, and they pointed to examples in which students rose substantially in benchmark performance after receiving tutoring.
The presentation closed with program-wide numbers from AmeriCorps showing multiple tutors across district elementary schools and a multi-year investment estimate. Jakubiak and Fox asked the board to note the apparent academic and social benefits of the small-group tutoring model while recognizing the program’s limited capacity to serve all eligible students.
Columbus Elementary staff said they will continue partnering with AmeriCorps to expand service where possible and coordinate schedules to avoid removing students from core instruction.
