Purpose/Objectives: School Food Focus (Focus) developed the Focus Midwest project on the premise that school food professionals (SFPs) could work together to minimize effort and maximize potential to find new or improved products to serve. Focus designed this project as an experiment to explore how and to what extent this collaborative approach…

In 2017 the Minnesota Department of Human Rights identified 43 local education agencies in the state as being in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act for their use of exclusionary discipline practices (suspensions, exclusions, and expulsions) at higher rates for American Indian and Black students and students in special education than for…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that examined the use of exclusionary discipline practices by Minnesota local education agencies. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights identified 43 local education agencies in the state as being in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act for their use of exclusionary discipline…

In 2017 the Minnesota Department of Human Rights identified 43 local education agencies in the state as being in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act for their use of exclusionary discipline practices (suspensions, exclusions, and expulsions) at higher rates for American Indian and Black students and students in special education than for…

The "Effect of Discipline Reform Plans on Exclusionary Discipline Outcomes in Minnesota" study examined the use of exclusionary discipline practices by Minnesota local education agencies from 2014/15 through 2018/19 and the extent to which the creation of discipline reform plans by identified local education agencies was associated with…

Every child is unique and learns in different ways. Some children are identified as needing special education services to support his or her learning at school. Parents can play a major role in shaping the services a child receives. This guidebook has been written for parents, guardians, and surrogate parents of a child (ages 3 to 21 or…

Since the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) launched the Collaborating States Initiative (CSI) to support social and emotional learning (SEL) in 2016, participation has grown dramatically. CASEL initially planned to work with five states. In the past two years, the CSI team and its partners have worked with 25,…

State education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) made clear in a recent Reform Support Network (RSN) survey and follow-up interviews that staff must have the capacity to successfully engage stakeholders through social media. This is not a new challenge for government; staff capacity -- the number of staff and their access to…

The idea behind public charter schools was to develop flexible models of public schools and to incubate innovative ideas that then could be shared with the district's public schools. Today, almost 20 years since the first public charter school opened its doors in Minnesota, one still does not see consistent, productive collaboration and shared…

Preparing disabled students for transition to productive adult lives involves careful planning between sending and receiving agencies. The article describes state and school district transition programs, emphasizing interagency planning teams (Oregon), cross-agency coordination and ninth grade vocational assessments (Minnesota), and field-testing…

Presented are the proceedings of three concurrent training institutes conducted to better prepare professional workers in vocational education to meet the needs of rural disadvantaged students through secondary, postsecondary, and adult vocational education programs in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Included are the program objectives,…

Developed to assist educators and Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) representatives understand each other and work together, this document is divided into three major areas: Issues, Deeds, and Dreams. The section on issues examines common areas of concern to CETA and education. Topics include a historical perspective of education…