We reached out to the Legislative Auditor about the Minnesota Department of Education conduct centering around what information they were providing. We also questioned whether the legislature was getting accurate information from MDE.

 

Mr. F..…..

The Office of the Legislative Auditor received the complaint you submitted to our office on April 8, 2019, regarding early childhood education and the achievement gap. Your e-mail to us questioned, among other things, whether the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is withholding information on school readiness.

Our office issued an evaluation of early childhood programs in April 2018

(see https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2018/earlychildhood.htm); the evaluation was managed by Jody Hauer. That evaluation reviewed programs administered by multiple agencies, including MDE, and targeting different populations. Our findings in that report included the following:

· Statutes require certain early childhood programs to report on aspects of program effectiveness, but existing data are inadequate to evaluate performance statewide. (p. 54)

· Statutes for three of nine key early childhood programs do not require reports on program effectiveness, and statewide data on those programs’ outcomes do not exist. (p. 59)

· State law places a priority on children’s readiness for school, but the state does not know the extent to which Minnesota children entering kindergarten are ready for school. (p. 62)

· Most but not all early childhood programs overseen by the Minnesota Department of Education require providers to assess each child’s skills and plan instruction accordingly, but the number of children assessed statewide is unknown. (p. 62)

· Not all school districts and charter schools assess children entering kindergarten on their readiness for school, and results for those who are assessed are not available on a statewide basis. (p. 67)

Thus, we share your concern about the inadequacy of statewide data on early childhood programs and readiness for school. As indicated in our 2018 report, part of the problem is with state statutes, which do not require (1) assessment of school readiness in all early childhood programs, (2) all school districts or providers to submit assessment results to MDE, or (3) assessment of all children at the time they enter kindergarten. One reason that MDE has not published data on school readiness is because the available data are not representative of the state as a whole. Our report offered recommendations to both the Legislature and MDE for improving the state’s information on school readiness and program outcomes.

Your complaint also questioned whether MDE is aware of research on how and when children learn. Our 2018 evaluation provided an overview of academic literature regarding early childhood programs (see Chapter 3), and MDE reviewed our research summary as a part of our evaluation process. Our review distinguished between studies that have examined the short-term effects of programs (through third grade) and those that have examined longer-term impacts. We observed that the findings in these studies have been mixed, and that the programs subject to review have varied in length, teacher requirements, curriculum, and quality.

You expressed particular interest in programs for children from birth to age three, and Minnesota has several such programs. Minnesota’s early learning scholarships can be used for any low-income child (birth to age three, or ages three to five) if they meet other criteria (such as homelessness, foster care, or sibling has a scholarship); however, MDE does not collect outcome data on this program. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) and Early Head Start also serve children from birth to age three, but Minnesota has no state requirements for reporting on the effectiveness of these programs. It is worth noting that most of the academic research literature we reviewed for our evaluation focused on programs for children who were at least age three.

Because we gave early childhood issues significant attention in our 2018 evaluation report, we do not intend to conduct additional work at this time in response to your complaint. However, I wanted you to be aware of the issues our office has raised for consideration by the Legislature and MDE.

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.

Sincerely,

Office of the Legislative Auditor
140 Centennial Building, 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-8313
Fax 651-296-4712