In 2023, Wilder Research contracted with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the Children's Cabinet, to conduct an Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce Survey. A similar study was conducted in 2011. The purpose of the study is to describe characteristics of the ECE workforce…

In June 2021, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated significant investments in child care, using $537 million in Child Care and Development Funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). Investments included: $304 million in direct payments to providers through Child Care Stabilization Grants; $22.5 million for Child Care Facility Grants…

In the university setting, the issue of faculty morale typically has been linked to a variety of perceived inequities, including inequities in faculty salary. New approaches for analyzing two different, but related, types of inequity are proposed. One approach addresses whether salary compression, often perceived by faculty to exist, actually does…

What is the "best" way to pay teachers? Should teachers be paid based only on their experience and education, or does this merely reward mediocrity? Would it be better to base teachers' pay on their performance in the classroom or their students' learning, or would this undermine cooperation among colleagues and encourage an unhealthy…

Minnesota state policy makers are concerned about teacher compensation because it constitutes a major category of state and local spending and can affect education results. This report examines compensation issues by describing the pay structure of Minnesota's K-12 public school teachers, making pay comparisons with other professionals, and…

Since the announcement in 1999 of a plan to tie teachers' salary increases to student achievement by Denver Public Schools, there has been a flood of nationwide policy activity around teacher compensation. This paper examines pay plans in Denver, Toledo, Minneapolis, and New York City, offering a snapshot of the changing landscape of teacher…

This document concludes that the basic difficulty with comparable worth is that it is an ill-conceived solution to a serious problem and that alternative policies, such as equal employment opportunity legislation or application of antitrust laws, provide means of addressing employment discrimination that are both more effective and less likely to…

This Minnesota edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on…

This study documents the revenue and expenditure patterns for categories of school districts and for individual school districts. The fiscal impact of the current system, the nature and extent of fiscal disparities, and the factors that contribute to the disparities are examined. An attempt is made to distinguish between disparities among…

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) is a welfare reform initiative based on enhancing welfare recipients' incentives to get a job and requiring long-term welfare recipients to participate in employment-focused activities. The effects of the MFIP were compared to those of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program through…

A study examined postsecondary vocational education at Minnesota's area vocational-technical institutes (AVTIs). During the study, researchers evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of approximately 800 vocational programs offered by the AVTIs with respect to student and teacher ratios, program duplication, completion rates, placement rates,…

This report provides a profile of child care in the seven county metropolitan area in Minnesota. Child Care WORKS is a statewide coalition of over 150 organizations that develops and promotes a state child care agenda. This report provides statistical data on child care from 1980 to 1990, and projections through the year 2000. A brief outline of…

Results of a 1980 survey of Minnesota women college faculty are compared with two earlier studies, revealing that women are not making the professional strides in academe they once expected, not becoming an increasingly important part of higher education, and not achieving equity with men faculty. (MSE)

This report examines the status of women in Minnesota's schools, with emphasis on the effect of education on women's economic status. Educational attainment for Minnesota women is above the national average. Thirty-two percent of women in the state, compared with 28 percent of American women generally, have some post-secondary education. In…

The impact of correctional education (CE) on inmates' postrelease behavior was examined in a longitudinal study of recidivism in Maryland (which has a medium-sized prison population), Minnesota (which has a small prison population), and Ohio (which has a large prison population). The study sample consisted of 3,170 individuals in the release…