Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota Senate Bill SF2027 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to early education; establishing early childhood literacy pilot programs;
3	3	1.3 appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.162.
4	4	1.4BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
5	5	1.5 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 124D.162, is amended to read:
6	6	1.6 124D.162 KINDERGARTEN ENTRY ASSESSMENT.
7	7	1.7 Subdivision 1.Assessment required.The commissioner of education must implement
8	8	1.8a kindergarten entry assessment of incoming kindergartners to identify the percent of
9	9	1.9kindergartners who meet or exceed end-of-year prekindergarten early learning standards.
10	10	1.10 Subd. 2.Process.(a) School districts and charter schools must choose a kindergarten
11	11	1.11entry assessment tool from a menu The commissioner must identify a selection of valid and
12	12	1.12reliable measurement instruments approved by the department that:
13	13	1.13 (1) are aligned to the state early childhood indicators of progress and kindergarten
14	14	1.14standards and are based on the criteria to be an early learning assessment approved by the
15	15	1.15department;
16	16	1.16 (2) support the comprehensive achievement and civic readiness goals in section 120B.11,
17	17	1.17subdivision 1, paragraph (c); and
18	18	1.18 (3) are based, in part, on information collected from teachers, early learning professionals,
19	19	1.19families, and other partners.; and
20	20	1.20 (4) are aligned to the tools used for screening under section 120B.12.
21	21	1Section 1.
22	22	25-03855 as introduced02/18/25 REVISOR CR/DG
23	23	SENATE
24	24	STATE OF MINNESOTA
25	25	S.F. No. 2027NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
26	26	(SENATE AUTHORS: MAYE QUADE)
27	27	OFFICIAL STATUSD-PGDATE
28	28	Introduction and first reading02/27/2025
29	29	Referred to Health and Human Services 2.1 (b) The department must provide technical assistance and professional development
30	30	2.2related to the assessment required under this section to educators, school districts, and charter
31	31	2.3schools.
32	32	2.4 (c) The requirements under section 16C.08 do not apply to the selection of tools under
33	33	2.5this section.
34	34	2.6 Subd. 3.Reporting.School districts and charter schools must annually report the results
35	35	2.7of kindergarten entry assessments to the department in a form and manner determined by
36	36	2.8the commissioner that is concurrent with a district's and charter school's comprehensive
37	37	2.9achievement and civic readiness report under section 120B.11, subdivision 5. The
38	38	2.10commissioner must publicly report kindergarten readiness results as part of the performance
39	39	2.11reports required under section 120B.36 and in a manner consistent with section 120B.35,
40	40	2.12subdivision 3, paragraph (a), clause (2).
41	41	2.13 Subd. 4.Implementation.The requirements under this section must be phased in over
42	42	2.14three school years with all school districts and charter schools complying beginning with
43	43	2.15the 2025-2026 2026-2027 school year.
44	44	2.16 Sec. 2. EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY PILOT PROGRAMS.
45	45	2.17 Subdivision 1.Definitions.(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
46	46	2.18the meanings given.
47	47	2.19 (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of education.
48	48	2.20 (c) "Structured literacy" has the meaning given in Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.119,
49	49	2.21subdivision 15.
50	50	2.22 Subd. 2.Expert panel.(a) The commissioner must convene an expert panel to review
51	51	2.23literacy research and make recommendations for improving early childhood literacy. The
52	52	2.24expert panel must be made up of:
53	53	2.25 (1) state and national experts in structured literacy, including but not limited to researchers
54	54	2.26and practitioners; and
55	55	2.27 (2) experts in developmentally appropriate practice, assessment, curriculum, professional
56	56	2.28development, and family engagement, including but not limited to researchers who have
57	57	2.29studied literacy for early education, early educators, caregivers, family advocates, and
58	58	2.30individuals from organizations working in support of young children's education and
59	59	2.31development.
60	60	2Sec. 2.
61	61	25-03855 as introduced02/18/25 REVISOR CR/DG 3.1 (b) The expert panel must review original research and reports related to early childhood
62	62	3.2literacy and identify solutions based on structured literacy that support whole child
63	63	3.3development in the areas of:
64	64	3.4 (1) family engagement;
65	65	3.5 (2) curricula;
66	66	3.6 (3) professional development;
67	67	3.7 (4) instructional practices; and
68	68	3.8 (5) assessment practices and tiered intervention models.
69	69	3.9 (c) The expert panel must make recommendations to the commissioner on practices in
70	70	3.10the areas specified in paragraph (b) for inclusion in pilot programs under this section. The
71	71	3.11expert panel must recommend practices that are evidence-based or that the panel agrees
72	72	3.12warrant testing as part of a pilot program. The full set of recommendations must be designed
73	73	3.13to improve outcomes in the kindergarten entry assessment under Minnesota Statutes, section
74	74	3.14124D.162.
75	75	3.15 Subd. 3.Pilot programs.(a) To the extent funding is available, the commissioner must
76	76	3.16implement pilot programs based on the recommendations of the expert panel.
77	77	3.17 (b) To the extent practicable, the commissioner must implement the pilot programs
78	78	3.18required under this section in different early care and learning settings, including in public
79	79	3.19school prekindergarten programs, Head Start programs, licensed family child care settings,
80	80	3.20licensed child care centers, and children's home environments.
81	81	3.21 Subd. 4.Evaluation.(a) The commissioner must contract with an independent research
82	82	3.22organization to develop and implement an evaluation of the pilot programs required under
83	83	3.23this section to determine each program's effectiveness in showing growth on measures of
84	84	3.24literacy outcomes for children in preschool and early elementary grades.
85	85	3.25 (b) During the evaluation, children's prereading skills must be measured using assessments
86	86	3.26that have been validated as predictive of future reading performance, including but not
87	87	3.27limited to measurement conducted as part of required screening under Minnesota Statutes,
88	88	3.28section 120B.12.
89	89	3.29 Subd. 5.Annual and comprehensive reviews.(a) Each year a pilot program is in effect,
90	90	3.30the commissioner must convene a public meeting to:
91	91	3.31 (1) review each implemented pilot program's successes and barriers;
92	92	3.32 (2) review the results of evaluations required under this section; and
93	93	3Sec. 2.
94	94	25-03855 as introduced02/18/25 REVISOR CR/DG 4.1 (3) make recommendations to improve implementation of the pilot programs and each
95	95	4.2program's efficacy.
96	96	4.3 (b) Each public meeting must include legislators, members of the expert panel, pilot
97	97	4.4program participants, and evaluators.
98	98	4.5 (c) In addition to convening the annual review meetings, the commissioner must examine
99	99	4.6initial and long-term outcome evaluation results required under this section across all
100	100	4.7developmental domains within the state's early childhood indicators of progress.
101	101	4.8 Subd. 6.Recommendations.By February 1, 2029, the commissioner must submit to
102	102	4.9the legislative committees with jurisdiction over early childhood education recommendations
103	103	4.10for implementing, on a larger scale, proven approaches for improving early childhood
104	104	4.11literacy based on the results of the pilot programs implemented under this section.
105	105	4.12 Subd. 7.Coordination with the commissioner of children, youth, and families.The
106	106	4.13commissioner must work in coordination with the commissioner of children, youth, and
107	107	4.14families to carry out the requirements of this section.
108	108	4.15 Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
109	109	4.16 Subdivision 1.Department of Education.The sum indicated in this section is
110	110	4.17appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education in the fiscal year
111	111	4.18designated.
112	112	4.19 Subd. 2.Early childhood literacy pilot programs.(a) For implementation, evaluation,
113	113	4.20and review of early childhood literacy pilot programs:
114	114	2026.....3,500,0004.21 $
115	115	4.22 (b) This is a onetime appropriation and is available until June 30, 2029.
116	116	4Sec. 3.
117	117	25-03855 as introduced02/18/25 REVISOR CR/DG