Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF)
Are you familiar with MELF ? If not, you certainly should be. This organization is going to become one of the strongest voices for early childhood education in the State of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF) was established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in 2005. MELF was created through a partnership of leaders from the foundation, corporate and civic sectors to address growing concerns about the lack of school readiness among many children entering kindergarten, and the significant impact this was having now, and would have in the future, on Minnesota’s economy and quality of life.
This lack of school readiness results from gaps in the system for serving young children:
Information gaps
• Parents lack information to select quality early care and education programs
• Early childhood program staff lack information about how to increase quality
• Policy makers and funders lack information to guide funding decisions
Quality gaps
• Existing early childhood programs are of uneven quality
• Quality of implementation of existing or proven models varies greatly
• The programs within the state’s early childhood system are rarely evaluated against the goal of getting children ready for school success
• Early childhood programs lack resources, or resources may need to be redirected, to increase program quality
Access gaps
• Some communities do not have enough early childhood programs to meet families’ needs
• High quality early childhood programs are often not affordable for low-income families
• Some early childhood programs do not provide the comprehensive and intensive services that families need, nor are families always able to patch together those services
Mission and Goals
MELF’s mission is to recommend cost-effective strategies for preparing children to succeed in school. We will pursue this mission by compiling a body of knowledge about what works best and most cost-effectively in promoting learning readiness among children of low-income families and families facing other challenges. This includes collecting information on appropriate actions needed across the system and for specific groups with the highest need, weighing the effectiveness of various program models, supporting engagement by and empowerment of parents, and determining the key short and longer-term outcomes and indicators that are valid, direct measures of children’s experiences.
Find out more about MELF and the initiatives, goals, and projects by visiting their website and by reading their recently released Progress Report.
Are you familiar with MELF ? If not, you certainly should be. This organization is going to become one of the strongest voices for early childhood education in the State of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF) was established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in 2005. MELF was created through a partnership of leaders from the foundation, corporate and civic sectors to address growing concerns about the lack of school readiness among many children entering kindergarten, and the significant impact this was having now, and would have in the future, on Minnesota’s economy and quality of life.
This lack of school readiness results from gaps in the system for serving young children:
Information gaps
• Parents lack information to select quality early care and education programs
• Early childhood program staff lack information about how to increase quality
• Policy makers and funders lack information to guide funding decisions
Quality gaps
• Existing early childhood programs are of uneven quality
• Quality of implementation of existing or proven models varies greatly
• The programs within the state’s early childhood system are rarely evaluated against the goal of getting children ready for school success
• Early childhood programs lack resources, or resources may need to be redirected, to increase program quality
Access gaps
• Some communities do not have enough early childhood programs to meet families’ needs
• High quality early childhood programs are often not affordable for low-income families
• Some early childhood programs do not provide the comprehensive and intensive services that families need, nor are families always able to patch together those services
Mission and Goals
MELF’s mission is to recommend cost-effective strategies for preparing children to succeed in school. We will pursue this mission by compiling a body of knowledge about what works best and most cost-effectively in promoting learning readiness among children of low-income families and families facing other challenges. This includes collecting information on appropriate actions needed across the system and for specific groups with the highest need, weighing the effectiveness of various program models, supporting engagement by and empowerment of parents, and determining the key short and longer-term outcomes and indicators that are valid, direct measures of children’s experiences.
Find out more about MELF and the initiatives, goals, and projects by visiting their website and by reading their recently released Progress Report.
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 5:06 PM 
