Without Education There is No Light

Kids need structure to succeed. Our students are motivated to become better readers, so they can grow into the next reading level.

STACY UTGARD, teacher and full-time SFA Reading Facilitator

The Challenge

In the spring of 2014, Dugsi Academy Charter School, in St. Paul, MN, found itself facing a tough challenge: getting its growing population of Somali students up to reading speed. All Minnesota public schools, including its public charter ones, are required to show positive reading gains from year to year.

Since Minnesota is home to the nation’s largest community of Somali refugees, Dugsi’s 300 kindergarten through grade 8 students came from predominantly non-English speaking refugee homes. Not only was there a language challenge, many of the Somali families were having trouble making ends meet in entry-level jobs and were without reliable transportation, so just getting their kids to school on time could be problematic.

With reading scores low and substantial hurdles to overcome to get families, and community, actively involved in the kids’ education, Dugsi needed more than a change in curriculum– it required a whole-school reform solution.

The Result

With the unique cultural sensitivities of the school’s students and their families, the flexible SFA program has been tweaked for successful implementation, and the school has listened to the concerns of parents and negotiated acceptance – including mixed classrooms – and workable compromises.

Even so, Utgard insists that Dugsi is 100% committed to making the necessary changes to get all students reading at grade level. And the results so far indicate that the school is making notable gains in reading levels across all grades.

The local Somali community has a well-known phrase: “Aqoon la’aani waa iftiin la’aan.” (“Without education there is no light.”) With the help of SFA and the Caterpillar Foundation, Dugsi’s staff and administration have worked hard to bring new light to the immigrant students, so they can achieve sustainable progress that leads to a better life.