Blog, News & Events
Welcome to the 不良研究所l Blog, your go-to destination for valuable insights, innovative ideas, and inspiring stories in the field of early learning. Dive into a treasure trove of articles crafted by our team of experts, dedicated to empowering child care providers, educators, and families.
What is early childhood suspension and expulsion?聽 Suspension or expulsion happens when a child is removed from their early childhood classroom.聽In practice, this can look a few different ways. The ...
In Minnesota and around the country, many children are not on track to read proficiently. The latest Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) results show just 48% of 3rd graders met or ...
If 2023 was the year of legislative activity for child care in Minnesota, 2024 is the year of reports! As projects from the 2023 session get underway and existing projects ...
There is broad agreement that Minnesota鈥檚 current early care and education system is not working well for parents, children, or providers. Costs for parents are too high to bear.聽The Great ...
A great way to stay connected with early childhood policy is by making sure you鈥檙e signed up to newsletters from organizations and projects you care about. It can also keep ...
CCAP helps families pay for child care costs while parents go to work or school. It is a complex program that receives federal and state funding. 聽Minnesota counties administer the ...
CCAP helps families pay for child care costs while parents go to work or school. It is a complex program that receives federal and state funding. 聽Minnesota counties administer the ...
CCAP helps families pay for child care costs while parents go to work or school. It is a complex program that receives federal and state funding. 聽Minnesota counties administer the ...
In the summary of what passed this legislative session, one of the important items was changes and funding for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).CCAP helps families pay for child ...
Many changes to early care and education policy passed this legislative session. In an attempt to organize and track the milestones ahead, we鈥檝e created this blog post and accompanying ...
Early Learning Scholarships will see significant changes in the months and years ahead. Early Learning Scholarships give low-income families financial support to help pay for quality early care and ...
It is no secret to those who work in or rely on child care that the field struggled even before the pandemic. The challenge of covering the actual costs ...
There鈥檚 now a clearer picture of what will become law in 2023. When it comes to early care and education, there is a lot! We鈥檙e still digesting, but here鈥檚 ...
House File 2292, the early education omnibus bill, passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Walz. This bill contains new investments and policy ...
State legislators are on Spring Break, and omnibus budget bills are available. An omnibus bill is made up of many other bills centered on a specific topic. State legislators ...
The 2023 State Legislative Session is officially underway. Legislators are meeting with constituents, bills are being drafted and introduced, and committees are holding hearings!聽 Legislative leaders and Governor Walz ...
The importance of Community Solutions Fund, one grantee speaks out on their experience and the impacts it has on their community.
By Jacqueline Zhang, Todd Otis Public Policy Intern For many years, Barb Fabre has recognized the need for advocating for and empowering parents in the family and child care sectors. Throughout her ...
By Cisa Keller, Senior Vice President of Early Childhood Quality Development The April Policy Hour focused on Coronavirus Early Childhood Updates.聽 Children鈥檚 Cabinet Update Stephanie Hogenson, Policy Director for the ...
March鈥檚 PolicyHour provided an update on the state budget forecast, and the importance of participatingin the upcoming census. State Budget Forecast Betsy Hammer, fromthe MN Budget Project, gave an update ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy & Advocacy Coordinator February’s Ann Kaner-Roth Policy hour provided an opportunity to hear from state agencies about their current early childhood projects. Governor鈥檚 Children鈥檚 Cabinet ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Every year, we gaze into the crystal ball to predict what might be ahead for the legislative session. Nobody ever gets it ...
This month鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour was focused on recent and upcoming work at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) with presenters from the Child Care Assistance Program and Child Development ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Two interconnected crises continue in Minnesota: worst-in-the-nation achievement gaps and a severe child care shortage in many parts of the state Last ...
By Voices and Choices for Children Coalition 鈥淭his is the time for us to not just dream about what could be, but also start to build alternatives that we want ...
By Marie Huey, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Katy Smith, Licensed Parent Educator and 2011 MN Teacher of the Year, and Dr. Monica Potter, Supervisor of Early Childhood and Family Education ...
By Marie Huey, 不良研究所l Policy and Advocacy Coordinator While the state legislative session is heating up in Minnesota, there鈥檚 also plenty to discuss about what is going on with ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy Coordinator The March edition of Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour covered the state budget forecast and the Governor鈥檚 budget proposal. February Budget Forecast Betsy ...
By Marie Huey, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Staff from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) joined us for February鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour to provide updates on child care. ...
Submitted by Jane Kretzmann, on behalf of Elders for Infants (Glenace Edwall, Dave Ellis, Sandy Heidemann, Jim Nicholie, Glen Palm, and Katie Williams).锘 Elders for Infants is comprised of professionals ...
Submitted by Jane Kretzmann, on behalf of Elders for Infants (Glenace Edwall, Dave Ellis, Sandy Heidemann, Jim Nicholie, Glen Palm, and Katie Williams).锘 Elders for Infants is comprised of professionals ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Mixed delivery is a hot topic in early care and education. Even with an extra half hour, December鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorThe November Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour focused on play, parents and policy.One of the presenters was聽Katy Smith, a Parent Educator who spent 31 ...
Small Talks features leaders who share key insights on early childhood education and discuss innovative solutions to early learning issues in Minnesota.Inadequate investment, scholarship caps, complicated funding streams, and low ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorKids were on vacation this summer, but many adults didn鈥檛 have time for a break. October鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour got us up ...
U.S. Senator Tina Smith introduced a new bill aimed at reducing the child care shortage in Minnesota and across the nation. The Child Care Supply Improvement Act proposes supports for ...
不良研究所l鈥檚 mission as a nonprofit is to advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years. We do this by preparing providers, strengthening families and catalyzing ...
鈥淭he survey results show that Parent Aware-rated programs across all parts of Minnesota were twice as likely to have stayed in business than non-rated programs.鈥 High-quality early learning, as defined ...
By May Esperanza Losloso, Senior Organizer, Children鈥檚 Defense Fund-MinnesotaFrom April 11-13, 2018, eight members of the Voices and Choices for Children Steering Committee attended the PolicyLink 2018 Equity Summit in ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorThe 2018 legislative session ended on May 22. To explain the implications for the early care and education field, two experts joined us: ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorSaint Paul is planning for a citywide 3K program, and Council Member Rebecca Noecker joined May鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour to explain the ...
鈥淧lease continue funding programs such as early childhood scholarships.聽 It definitely makes a difference.聽 It allows kids to get that extra boost in the beginning so they stay on track ...
By Kristie ThorsonAt 不良研究所l, we picture a brighter future for Minnesota鈥檚 kids.聽 We picture a day when ALL young children have access to high-quality early care and education so ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy Coordinator The Minnesota State Legislature was off for Easter/Passover Break this week, so Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour turned its focus to national issues. ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorMarch Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour focused on coordination and collaboration projects in the early learning field.Early Learning CouncilDianne Haulcy, Senior Vice President of ...
Many organizations and individuals are seeking equitable policies and solutions to address persistent inequality. We can no longer support systems that created inequity and maintain inequity. By Voices and Choices ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorFacts and speculation both made appearances at February鈥檚 Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour at 不良研究所l in Minneapolis, and Sara(h)s abounded.Sarah Orange, Policy Advocate ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorJanuary Policy Hour started with a special announcement: the event is now named the Ann Kaner-Roth Policy Hour. Ann served as the Executive ...
The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorDecember Policy Hour presenters shared information about state and national initiatives that are working to enhance and improve the early childhood workforce.Power to ...
鈥淥ur mission is to advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years.鈥 The theme of our 2017 Report to the Community is ‘Picturing Brighter Futures’ for ...
Staff from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) presented at November Policy Hour about the changes to child care in Minnesota. During the 2017 legislative session, many changes ...
Early Learning Scholarships allow children ages 3-5 from low-income families to attend high-quality early learning programs. During the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers made a change to allow children 0-5 from ...
The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...
By Marie Huey, Public Policy and Advocacy CoordinatorRepresentatives from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) presented at the first Policy Hour of the season. June Reineke and Amanda Varley shared ...
The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...
The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...
The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...
Join us on the playground as we explore Policies in Play! 不良研究所l believes that placing a priority on children and their families through access to high quality early childhood ...
The final Policy Hour of the season was a double dose of early education information! We heard about changes to Parent Aware and received an end of legislative session update.Parent ...
Minnesota legislators wrapped up the special session last week, and the Governor signed budget bills into law. Read about the new policies and programs that affect early learning throughout the ...
It is great that early learning is a policy priority for the state, and it鈥檚 encouraging to hear it continue to be discussed. In a year of $1.6 billion surplus, ...
Field Representative to Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota), Dan Solomon, joined Policy Hour in May to provide updates on federal funding and policies that affect the early learning field.Sen. Franken is ...
Early education is in the spotlight now. That was the message from Kathleen O鈥橠onnnell, Executive Director, and Sara Benzkofer, Director of Policy and Communications, of MnAEYC-MnSACA. The April Policy Hour ...
Jim Koppel, Assistant Commissioner for Children and Family Services for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, spoke to Policy Hour attendees on March 7th. 聽He talked about the child care ...
Legislative Task Force on Child Care Access and Affordability Senator Melissa Wiklund, DFL-Bloomington, was one of the presenters at the February Policy Hour organized by Minnesota鈥檚 Future and hosted by ...
The 2017 Minnesota Legislative Session is underway! January聽Policy Hour聽brought us up to speed on the policy priorities of the organizations in the Minnesota鈥檚 Future coalition and the Voices and Choices ...
This month marks one year since the start of the 不良研究所l blog. To celebrate, we鈥檙e using January to highlight information and initiatives from 不良研究所l and our partners about ...
The 2017 Legislative session starts in less than one month. In preparation, 不良研究所l created our policy priorities. The priorities all support our mission of advancing quality care and education ...
December鈥檚 Policy Hour featured three early childhood聽lobbyists: Valerie聽Dosland聽and Patrick Lobejko of Ewald Consulting, and Sonnie Elliott of FaegreBD Consulting. We also heard from Ben Horowitz of the Minnesota Budget Project.聽Many ...
New federal policy changes will affect the Minnesota early learning field. November Policy Hour featured staff from the state departments of Education and Human Services sharing updates about the changes.
A new group of early education experts released recommendations for how Minnesota can best improve the early care and education landscape across our state, a key area of focus to ...
The first Minnesota鈥檚 Future Policy Hour of the season focused on legislation passed this spring. The presenters provided updates on implementation of projects.
The Legislative Task Force on Access to Affordable Child Care discussed licensingrequirements and enforcement at聽their meeting on September 21st. State and county officials provided insight into their roles and observations, ...
The Minnesota House Select Committee on Affordable Child Care held a hearing on July 19 at the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board office to hear from the community on child ...
The Minnesota鈥檚 Future June Policy Hour reviewed the 2016 legislative session, combing through a list of proposals that passed, did not pass, and some that still may pass if a ...
Governor Dayton signed the supplemental budget bill today, allocating $182 million in funding this year and $300 million of funding over the next two years. He is still reviewing the ...
Kelly Monson, Minnesota鈥檚 Children’s Cabinet Program Manager, talked about Help Me Grow at May鈥檚 policy hour.The purpose of Help Me Grow is to promote healthy development in children prenatal to ...
In print and social media, Parent Aware has been a hot topic in the past couple of weeks. Parent Aware is Minnesota鈥檚 early education Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). ...
We must close gaps first by supporting early learning programs already in place to reach our most at risk children. Child Care is an essential and large piece of this ...
The April edition of Minnesota鈥檚 Future Policy Hour featured leaders from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) discussing Minnesota鈥檚 response to the federal reauthorization of the Child Care and ...
Our March 1, 2016 Policy Hour featured Dan Solomon, Field Representative to Senator Al Franken. While congress has been rather unproductive as of late, Solomon shared some bright spots and ...
The 2016 Children and Youth Issues Briefing this week featured an important and inspiring conversation about the future of early learning in Minnesota.
不良研究所l is dedicated to continue improving the early learning landscape across Minnesota, impacting the lives of children and the future of our state and starting with the children who ...
The first Minnesota鈥檚 Future Policy Hour of 2016 took place at 不良研究所l鈥檚 Minneapolis office featuring leaders from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to discuss the re-authorization of ...
This is the first in a series of聽videos showing the impact high-quality early learning has on children, families and child care providers across Minnesota. Check back here for a new ...
A new education law came out of Washington D.C. recently with strong bipartisan support. The new law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, eliminates No Child Left Behind and brings back ...