The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), together with the Region 10 Comprehensive Center (R10CC), conducted a survey of educators in Minnesota public schools to better understand which schools are implementing competency-based education (CBE) practices and to learn more about their goals, successes, and challenges. These insights will help…

Purpose/Objectives: This study aimed to describe efforts by Minnesota public School Food Authorities (SFAs) to implement the Smart Snack regulations in secondary schools and challenges associated with implementing these regulations five years after they went into effect. Methods: Public SFAs (n=452) in Minnesota were invited to complete an online…

Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) collaborated with Wilder Research to conduct interviews with schools to understand how schools use their existing funding in order to sustain Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) implementation. The findings are presented in this report. Information on MDE's MTSS is included at the end of this report. MDE…

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is an integrated system of high quality, standards-based instruction and interventions that are matched to students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs. The framework relies on strong core instruction and layered tiers of supports for all needs of the whole child, with a focus on equity and…

Information and promotional marketing play central but complex roles in market-based educational programs. This in-depth qualitative study examines these complexities using the case of Supplemental Educational Services, a parental choice program providing federally funded tutoring to low-income students in K-12 public schools. Examining the…

The College Readiness Consortium at the University of Minnesota has developed Ramp-Up to Readiness™ (Ramp-Up), a schoolwide advisory program to increase students' likelihood of college enrollment and completion by enhancing five dimensions of college readiness (academic, admissions, career, financial, and personal-social) among students in middle…

Ramp-Up to Readiness™ (Ramp-Up) is a college readiness program that aims to enhance five dimensions of readiness in high school students: academic, admissions, career, financial, and personal-social. Ramp-Up's developer theorizes that increasing these dimensions of readiness in high school students will improve college enrollment and success…

This study used a conceptual framework of professional development theory to identify characteristics of effective learning activities specific to 259 Minnesota K-12 public school physical education and developmental adapted physical education (PE/DAPE) teachers during 2012-2013. Study results confirmed that as PE/DAPE teacher participation in…

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as the nation's major law governing public schools. ESSA retains the requirement that states test all students in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school, as well as the requirement that…

This study assessed implementation of food defense practices in public schools in Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The first phase involved a qualitative multi-site case study: one-day visits were made to five school districts in the states of Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. A principal,…

Project Early Kindergarten (PEK) aims to improve the school-readiness of Saint Paul children and help close the achievement gap through offering high-quality educational experiences for preschool children. This report comes at the conclusion of the sixth year of PEK. Following an initial planning year (2004-05), PEK has served children through the…

The Saint Paul Public Schools' Project Early Kindergarten program aims to improve the school readiness of Saint Paul children. The program offers a rigorous academic approach and targets children who are English Language Learners, come from low-income families, or need Special Education services. Ultimately, the program intends to help close Saint…

In 1991, the Minnesota Legislature enacted the first legislation in the nation to permit creation of legally and financially independent public schools called charter schools. In February 1996, the Minnesota State Board of Education authorized an 18-month evaluation of Minnesota's charter schools. An evaluation team from the University of…

This report offers a framework and conceptual base for a statewide discussion of public school choice. A review of choice activities in other states and an analysis of typical components in a choice program are provided. Organized into four main chapters, the report starts with an explanation of the concept of choice followed by a review of the…

Controlled educational choice, defined as parental or student choice of educational programs within the public school system that is regulated for public purposes, has become a leading proposal for educational reform. This paper reviews evidence from three working models of choice: the Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options program (PEO), the…