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2020 Vision
Minnesota needs to start collectively asking and answering visioning questions around: 

  • What is a world class education?
  • What is a 21st century education? 
  • Do the standards define the vision or do we want something more?

It's important for Minnesotan's to know: 

In the absence of a Comprehensive Plan for Education in Minnesota we default to the standards, which don't include technology, health, world languages, critical thinking, and creative arts (art, music, theater, dance, performance, band, orchestra, choir). 

Are we really willing to settle for the standards?

Visioning Resources

Minnesota

Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership - Working to create a seamless system of education that maximizes achievements of all students, from early childhood through elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education, while promoting the efficient use of financial and human resources.

Minnesota's Promise - The only comprehensive vision for the future of public education in Minnesota put forth to date.

  • January 2008 - Minnesota’s Promise Final Report - As partners in Minnesota’s Promise, we have agreed to work toward the ten strategies of Minnesota’s Promise both within our organizations and together across the state as a whole.

    Parents United for Public Schools participated in the development of the Minnesota's Promise vision, and is a Minnesota's Promise partner.

  • 2007 Legislative Review: Minnesota’s Promise Still Unfulfilled - Steps the Minnesota legislature took towards implementing the strategies of Minnesota's Promise.

  • September 2006 - Minnesota's Promise - A call to action from 27 past and present superintendents to transform education in Minnesota for the global information age (Brochure).

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February 2009 - Legislative Report & Recommendations -  See recommendation V. Modernize our system of education to build the best workforce in the nation, Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020.

February 2009 - MINNESOTA'S FUTURE: World-class Schools, World-class Jobs - As Minnesota employers of all sizes face global competition and pursue global opportunities, they have a vested interest in the answers to these questions: How does Minnesota's education system compare with the best in the world? What can we learn from them to deliver a better education to the students of Minnesota?, Minnesota Business Partnership and the Itasca Project. (Related article at Twin Cities Compass.)

December 2008 - 2009 State of Students of Color and American Indian Students (Executive Summary) - Instead of approaching learning solely as an effort to “beat the odds” that social and economic status imposes on Students of Color and American Indian Students, Minnesota should work to “change the odds” by both promoting a culture of high expectations in school and holistically integrating K-12 schools with social, medical and community-building services, Minnesota Minority Education Partnership.

October 2008 - Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students: A Research-Based Investment Proposal - Lays out priorities for research-based investment directed where improvement is most needed, focused on interventions that achieve cost-effective results, Growth & Justice (Power Point) (Supporting Research).

National

Reports from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Ready by 21 — Ready for college, work and life. A project of the Forum for Youth Investment - Helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21.

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November 2009 - Redefining High School as a Launch Pad - What parents and students surveyed want from high school is at odds with what we’ve been asking our high schools to do for close to 100 years. Redefining the mission of high school is an important next step for building a 21st Century workforce, Deloitte 2009 Education Survey.

November 2007 (Updated) - Standards for the 21st-Century Learner - A vision for teaching and learning, American Association of School Librarians.

In This Section
  • Additional Indicators
  • Initiatives
  • Higher Education

  • "We'll know the Achievement Gap is closed when the diversity of our community is reflected in the full spectrum of local occupations."

    —Saint Paul NEAT


    The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.

    —Albert Einstein


    January 15, 2010
    Report of the Innovative School Advisory Council - Created in 2009, the Council recommends the legislature authorize a new commission to lead the work of creating a culture of innovation in learning in Minnesota, which would then form a nonprofit organization to provide leadership for developing innovation in schools and schooling and be charged with actively pursuing foundation funding, private grants, and federal grants, to finance its work, Minnesota Department of Education.