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State Representative Carolyn Laine
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4331
For more information contact: Joan Nichols 651-29X-XXXX
NEWS COLUMN
THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN MINNESOTA: IS SCIENCE THE SOLUTION?
Minnesota is a state that has a long, proud history of investing in its children’s education. So why has the education achievement gap become so persistent in Minnesota?
Today, legislators and educators are dealing with complex challenges about how to best address the disparity in academic performance between student groupings. These disparities in educational outcomes are often tied to income level and home environment. Students that consistently score far below their peers are largely from low-income, minority households.
How to raise these students' achievement and thereby narrow the achievement gap is the key question legislators, educators and parents find themselves asking each other. The future of our children is on the line and while the clock is ticking - the gap continues unabated.
. The commitment to make meaningful educational reforms is encouraging, but we also need a deep understanding of a child's brain development. This calls for attending seriously to the child's first years of life, not just the first day a child enters a classroom.
The first five years of life are crucial because during this time, the complex neural networks are developing which are the foundation for the child's ability to learn complex subjects such as reading and math.
Successful development of these neural networks is dependent on environments that are safe, responsive, interactive, and nurturing in the first years of life. When such environments are not available in these early stages of development, the brain eliminates the neural cells it is not developing, concentrating its energy on survival responses. The complex neural networks needed by a child to excel and succeed in the classroom are then not in place at age five. If circumstances of life do not support this essential brain development in children, the achievement gap will continue, and the cost of remedial work will be unbearable.
Closing the achievement gap is clearly a top priority in this legislative session. Recently I authored a bill (HF 595) that promotes school readiness by fostering healthy beginnings. There are a good number of early childhood initiatives under consideration in the House and Senate – recognizing the need to do more at the earliest stages of education.
Passing HF 595 will establish newborn visiting and home visiting programs in Minnesota. This legislation will assist the most at-risk families in fostering healthy beginnings, promoting school readiness, and supporting family health and economic efficiency.
Rep. Laine can be contacted at (651) 296-4331, by mail at 407 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at rep.Carolyn.Laine@house.mn.
News Items
- Rep. Laine Introduces Bill to Increase HMO Transparency - (Posted: 2012-02-13 00:00:00)
- New Law Gives Minnesotans a Natural Choice for Care of Deceased - (Posted: 2010-04-22 00:00:00)
- PROGRESS MADE IN 2009 SESSION, BUT MUCH MORE WORK AHEAD - (Posted: 2009-06-03 00:00:00)
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