The Education Evolving Blog

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) kicked off their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) public comment regional meetings at the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul. Over 60 individuals gathered to hear Commissioner Cassellius and Michael Diedrich, MDE’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act Policy Specialist, share the state’s ESSA accountability plan, answer questions, and receive public input.

Education Evolving has extensively covered the state’s ESSA...

Over the past few weeks, the growing animosity between different education organizations and advocates regarding the merits of charter versus traditional district schools has dominated the news cycle.

Last week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), released a report which concluded that “even the best charters are not a substitute for more stable, adequate and equitable investments in public education in communities...

Yesterday, the Minnesota House and Senate’s Education Policy Committees held a joint hearing on the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability plan. Even though ESSA does not require that a state’s legislature approve the state accountability plan, it does indicate that it should be developed with “timely and meaningful consultation” of the legislature. Also, there was a provision included in Minnesota’s 2017 legislative session’s...

Over the past 20 years, the number of English learner (EL) students in Minnesota has increased by 300 percent, making them the state’s fastest growing student group, and they currently constitute 8.3 percent of the state’s K-12 public education student enrollment. However, despite the rapid growth, their academic progress, as compared to their non-EL peers, has stalled.

In order to address the gaps that EL students face in the state’s public education system, the Coalition of Asian American Leaders and the Minnesota Educational Equity Partnership founded the...