Minnesota Education: A Research Guide: Early Childhood Development

Here you will find a number of reports from recent years advocating for the importance of early childhood education.

Formerly known as the Early Childhood Research Collaborative, and sponsored by the University of Minnesota and the Federal Reserve Bank, this project fosters multidisciplinary research on child development and social policy from birth through young adulthood. The coverage of topics is wide and includes evaluation and policy analysis of early learning programs, family, school, economic, and community influences as well as biological and psychological foundations of child health and well-being.

The mission of this research center at the University of Minnesota is to improve developmental outcomes for young children through applied research, professional development and training, and publications.

There are several research reports here on child development, childcare and early education.

A PDF version of the 2010 report is available.

This initiative began with a research document from the Wilder Foundation. This page includes links to other Wilder research on this topic. You can also Google for "Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative" to find links to local sites where there is a focus on early childhood programs in Minnesota.

Published by the Department of Education, and a companion to Early Childhood Indicators. The document establishes a set of developmentally appropriate expectations for preschool children. Scroll down to the 'document download' section to find it.

Find information here on programs supported by the Minnesota Department of Education, as well as the development of standards for this level of education.

Here you will find statistical information on the status of children in Minnesota, including information on childcare and other issues for young children.

Parent Aware for School Readiness is an independent, business-led nonprofit committed to making sure the Parent Aware Ratings work as designed and tested by the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF). Research reports and public policy statements are under the "work" tab.

From the National Institute of Early Education Research, this site profiles state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This link has reports for several years.