Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Solving Minnesota’s Achievement Gap

Executive Summary

“Generally speaking, the opportunity gap refers to inputs—the unequal or inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities—while the achievement gap refers to outputs—the unequal or inequitable distribution of educational results and benefits.” www.edglossary.org.

The school year is 165 days required by law.

The Problem

The Achievement Gap

Minnesota has approximately 66,000 students eligible to graduate; the Achievement Gap amounts to almost 11,000 students who don’t graduate on time, if at all.  

This is not a statewide problem; eighteen school districts graduate 100% of eligible students, and eighty-four districts graduate over 96%.

Current Spending by Minnesota on these ‘gaps’ is over $1 Billion

  • Early Childhood programs, $400M
  • Funding to assist low-achieving students through the Minnesota Department of Education, $600M

Many of these programs are not monitored for results, according to the Legislative Auditors’ April 2018 report and the Star Tribune’s July 1, 2019, article. This is an ongoing, well-known problem.

When and How Children Learn Research

Child Development Timeline:

  • Executive Function begins at 6 months (a set of skills that relies on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control).
  • At sixteen months, differences in vocabulary can be seen among children from low-, modest-, and high-income families.
  • By age two, scientists can predict 3rd-grade reading scores.
  • Chronic stress impedes development; poverty is the primary driver of this stress.
  • 80% of brain development occurs by age 3.
  • By age 3, children with college-educated parents or primary caregivers had vocabularies 2 to 3 times larger than those whose parents had not completed high school.
  • All parties (scientists, MDE, etc.) agree that kindergarten readiness is a prime determinant of how children will do in school.
  • “U.S. Dept. of Education Finds 6 out of 10 Kids Unprepared for Kindergarten”

The Achievement Gap Proposed Solutions

There are three different schools of thought on how to solve this problem:

  1. Scholarships for children of impoverished families for application to high-quality daycare costs.
    • Lines up with research
    • Large return on investment
  2. Pre-kindergarten for 4-year-old children.
    • Doesn’t line up with the research
    • Examining states with and without Pre-K shows no longitudinal benefit
    • Potentially devastating the childcare industry by taking the most profitable children.
    • UPK is typically 2 to 4 hours a day, and families still need to cover the majority of daycare costs.
  3. School Choice: funding follows children from public schools to private schools.
    • Assumes the school is at fault for the persistent Achievement Gap. This solution does not address the problem.
    • Dangerous solution;
      1. May promote segregation
      2. Takes the low-cost students out of public schools.

Scalable Solutions

Poverty is the cause of the Achievement Gap (AG), and it will cost the taxpayer. The highest cost is to do nothing. Children entering kindergarten need additional services, such as English language support or executive function support (which can lead to behavior problems).

“85 percent of all juveniles who come into contact with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. So are 60 percent of all prison inmates.” Ruben Rosario

There are many benefits to solving Minnesota’s Achievement Gap; this quote provides one side effect of poor education.

The StarTribune’s article of 2019 is still relevant, “$600M A YEAR, YET ACHIEVEMENT GAP PERSISTS”(http://www.startribune.com/despite-targeted-funding-struggling-students-still-experience-an-achievement-gap/510160142/)”.

What was the $600M used for? We don’t know because the Legislative Auditor lacks a legal definition of the Achievement Gap and cannot audit it.

Comprehensive Solution

  1. Educate all parents on how and when children learn.
  2. Establish the Minnesota Department of Children; Gov. Walz has already proposed this change.
  3. Fund daycare on a sliding scale based on income.

Expanding on each point:

  1. Educate all parents about how and when children learn from birth. This can be done in birthing centers and hospital maternity wards, using volunteers already in place. This can be as simple as showing expecting parents how and when children learn.
    1. “Indeed, studies show that parents who are knowledgeable about child development are better prepared to support their children’s development. On the other hand, parents with little knowledge are more likely to engage in negative parenting behaviors (e.g., abuse and neglect) that can have harmful long‐term effects on their children’s well-being.” https://www.childtrends.org
  • Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families
    • The Minnesota Department of Education should be a sub-department of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Family Services.
    • The state funds daycare for families on a sliding scale of income.
    • The funds must be in line with the current price of daycare and need to reflect enough money to feed impoverished children three meals daily ($13,000 to $15,000 yearly)
    • The funds would only be available to fully licensed daycares. In addition, the children would have to be kindergarten-ready for the daycare to qualify for future reimbursement.
    • There would be a rush to open new daycare centers with this new income stream.
    • An advantage of this program is that the monies go directly to daycare centers for the children. In addition, with quality audits and kindergarten readiness testing, the program would be manageable.
    • Children moving from daycare to K-12 would need continued support.
    • Cost savings from this program are immense.
      • A half-day Universal Pre-Kindergarten would not be necessary; significant savings would be achieved. Universal Pre-K for 3 & 4-year-old children could cost up to $900M.
      • English Language Learners would be substantially reduced. Studies have shown that infants and toddlers who are exposed to one language at daycare and another at home are fluent in both by age 5.
    • Developing Child at Harvard University has shown that properly trained daycare workers can identify early signs of mental illness, and the child can be cured with proper intervention.
    • Roughly estimated that the state of Minnesota needs 800+ daycare centers. There are monies available to get this done.

Current Problems with Daycare

  • In many areas, there are ‘Daycare Deserts,’ with four children for every daycare spot.
  • Due to scarcity, infrastructure should also be considered a problem.
  • Management, or the lack of it, is also a problem.
  • Supply determines the price. Therefore, an area with a short supply will experience higher fees.
  • Expensive for families, the third-largest expense is behind only a home and a vehicle. It costs more than most universities.
  • Highly regulated industry, which is positive.
  • Low-paying jobs, with an average income of less than $12/hour.
  • Long hours typically, daycare is expected to provide services from 6 AM to 6 PM.
  • Only twenty percent of daycares are considered “high-quality.”
  • Universal Pre-Kindergarten and Junior (ages 3 & 4) kindergartens are taking the lowest-cost children out of daycare, increasing the financial stress on the industry.

Stakeholders are numerous and may hold the key to leadership in the daycare industry.

Non-profit daycare is an option for underserved areas. The Board of Directors is composed of qualified individuals from the community. Once a board is in place and a team is hired, the rest should be straightforward.

Studies by Nobel Prize-winning scientists show that the Return on Investment for early childhood learning is $7 to $16.

It is essential to understand who will benefit from solving this problem:

  • The child
  • The Families
  • Teachers
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Police, prisons

There are only two ways to get more money for the MDE: raise taxes or reduce costs. Kindergarten-ready children will help lower costs and allow school boards to allocate more funds to the student population. .

“We all know how some children arrive at school; it will influence how they do for the rest of their academic careers.”

Dr. Megan Gunnar, Department Chair, Director of the Institute, Regents Professor, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota.

The education unions have a battery of lobbyists. So call and email your politicians, state and federal senators, and congressional representatives, ‘Say No to UPK, Fix Daycare”.

We must find someone to help the most at-risk, impoverished children.