More Information

Here are links to early childhood research and tools.

• Minnesota School Readiness Study: Developmental Assessment at Kindergarten Entrance, Fall 2010 assesses the school readiness of Minnesota’s children during the first 8 weeks of kindergarten.

• Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return, 2003 report by Art Rolnick and Rob Gruenwald.

• Minnesota Business for Early Learning, founded in 2004, is an organization of business leaders focused on improving the school readiness of pre-kindergarten children. MnBEL has developed an online assessment tool parents can use to determine their child’s readiness for kindergarten.

• Parent Aware Ratings provides a free online search for Minnesota parents to find the best child care for preparing children for kindergarten. Child care providers/early educators are rated on a one- to four-star scale. Parent Aware ratings are currently available for child care/early education providers in: Saint Paul, Minneapolis, the Wayzata school district, Blue Earth County, and Nicollet County.

• MinneMinds is a statewide effort to boost public funding for high quality early care and education programs.

• Early Childhood Education Program Yields High Economic Returns, 2011 article by Arthur Reynolds, professor in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, indicates that for every $1 invested in a Chicago early childhood education program, nearly $11 is projected to return to society over the children’s lifetimes, equivalent to an 18% annual return on program investment.