MinnPost’s “Learning Curve” features Project Success

MinnPost“Learning Curve” reporter Beth Hawkins posted an article on the positive impact Project Success is having on more than 12,000 students every month.  Titled “Project Success finds that academics and ‘soft skills’ are not an either/or,” the article highlights data demonstrating how Project Success’ efforts to help students dream, plan and succeed lead to positive academic outcomes.

Project Success finds that academics and ‘soft skills’ are not an either/or

Article highlights include:

• “Overall, data shows that participation in Project Success programs can result in a 10 percent increase in attendance, grade-point average and on-time graduation.”
• Data highlights from Eric Moore, Minneapolis Public Schools’ director of research, evaluation and assessment
• “Over the last 20 years, the nonprofit Project Success has built relationships with tens of thousands of middle- and high-school students in St. Paul and Minneapolis. It does things that we assume defy quantifying, in terms of results, like giving theater tickets to kids’ families.”
• “Does it translate into higher achievement? It does. And the higher the “dosage,” or exposure to enrichment, the bigger the effect.”
• “A separate effort being undertaken by the organization, which launched its own database a few weeks ago, will yield information about which kids are opting in and what would enable it to increase the ‘dosage’ for those kids.” (The database is funded with generous grants from Wells Fargo, Ecolab, Carlson Family Foundation and Aroha Philathropies).

A big thanks to Minneapolis Public Schools, for partnering with us in the classroom and in so many other ways. And thank you to our generous Twin Cities theater partners who donate tickets so that we may offer our students and their families enriching, life-changing experiences.