SF 3119

1st Engrossment - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 04/12/2010 04:58pm

A bill for an act
relating to early childhood education; modifying the membership and duties of
the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivisions 1, 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivision 1, is amended to
read:

Subdivision 1.

Membership; duties.

Two members of the house of representatives,
one appointed by the speaker and one appointed by the minority leader; and two members
of the senate appointed by the Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules
and Administration, including one member of the minority; new text begin the commissioner of health, or
the commissioner's designee; new text end and two parents with a child under age six, shall be added
to the membership of the State Advisory Council on Early Education and Care. The
council must fulfill the duties required under the federal Improving Head Start for School
Readiness Act of 2007 as provided in Public Law 110-134.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 124D.141, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Additional duties.

The following duties are added to those assigned
to the council under federal law:

(1) make recommendations on the most efficient and effective way to leverage state
and federal funding streams for early childhood and child care programs;

(2) make recommendations on how to coordinate or colocate early childhood and
child care programs in one state Office of Early Learning;

(3) review program evaluations regarding high-quality early childhood programs;
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(4) make recommendations to the governor and legislature, including proposed
legislation on how to most effectively create a high-quality early childhood system in
Minnesota in order to improve the educational outcomes of children so that all children
are school-ready by 2020 deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; and
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new text begin (5) make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on how to screen
earlier and comprehensively assess children for school readiness in order to provide
increased early interventions and increase the number of children ready for kindergarten.
In formulating their recommendations, the council shall consider (i) ways to communicate
with parents of children who are not participating in early childhood education or care
programs about early intervention and school readiness, (ii) ways to communicate with
family child care providers, child care centers, and school-based early childhood and
Head Start programs about early intervention and school readiness, (iii) if there are
age-appropriate and culturally sensitive screening and assessment tools for three-, four-,
and five-year-olds, (iv) the role of the medical community in screening, (v) incentives for
parents to have children screened at an earlier age, (vi) incentives for early education
and care providers to comprehensively assess children in order to improve instructional
practice, (vii) how to phase in increases in screening and assessment over time, (viii)
how the screening and assessment data will be collected and used and who will have
access to the data, (ix) how to monitor progress toward the goal of having 50 percent
of three-year-old children screened and 50 percent of five-year-old children assessed
for school readiness by 2015 and 100 percent of three-year-old children screened and
five-year-old children assessed for school readiness by 2020, (x) how to monitor progress
toward the goal of having 50 percent of four-year-old children assessed by their early
childhood education and care providers to determine their level of performance in order
to promote their learning and development, and (xi) costs to meet these benchmarks.
The council shall consider the screening instruments and comprehensive assessment
tools used in Minnesota early childhood education and care programs and kindergarten.
The council may survey early childhood education and care programs in the state to
determine the screening and assessment tools being used or rely on previously collected
survey data, if available. For purposes of this subdivision, "school readiness" is defined
as the child's skills, knowledge, and behaviors at kindergarten entrance in these areas
of child development: social; self-regulation; cognitive, including language, literacy,
and mathematical thinking; and physical. For purposes of this subdivision, "screening"
is defined as the activities used to identify a child who may need further evaluation
to determine delay in development or disability. For purposes of this subdivision,
"assessment" is defined as the activities used to determine a child's level of performance in
order to promote the child's learning and development. Any costs incurred by the council
in making these recommendations will be paid from nonstate and nonfederal funds. If
no nonstate or nonfederal funds are received, the council will not proceed in making
these recommendations. The council will report its recommendations to the governor
and legislature no later than July 1, 2012, with interim reports on February 15, 2011,
and February 15, 2012.
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