St. Paul school turns it around

It's summer vacation, and while their peers are playing outside or watching television, about one-third of students at Dayton's Bluff Elementary in St. Paul, Minnesota, are in school to become better readers, writers and mathematicians.

The annual release of Minnesota schools' test scores renews discussions about how best to teach kids, especially for schools that serve mostly low-income students — who almost always score lower than average on standardized tests. But Dayton's Bluff — where nine out of 10 students live in poverty and almost one-third are learning English or are new to the school — is a school that defies the odds.

In 2001, the school was overhauled because of dismal test scores, and student achievement has risen dramatically. According to test results released two weeks ago, about 75% of students were proficient in math this year, up from 19% in 2001. In reading, 69%  were proficient, up from 24%  in 2001. Read how it was done in the Pioneer Press online.