The World's Best Workforce (WBWF) law found in Minnesota statutes, section 120B.11, identifies five student performance goals used to gauge district and charter success and progress in serving all students well. The law also requires districts to focus on teacher equity, ensuring that all students from low-income families, students of color, and American Indian students are not disproportionately served by inexperienced, ineffective, or out-of-field teachers.
WBWF requirements present a great opportunity for early childhood programs to plan with K-12.
Under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.11, school boards are to adopt a long-term, comprehensive strategic plan to support and improve teaching and learning. This plan addresses the following five goals:
- All children are ready for school.
- All third-graders can read at grade level.
- All racial and economic achievement gaps between students are closed.
- All students are ready for career and college.
- All students graduate from high school.
Always rely on the MDE website for the most accurate and recent information about WBWF. Minnesota Department of Education's WBWF webpage.
All Children are Ready for School
Currently, Minnesota’s school readiness definition, the agreed-upon expectations at kindergarten entry, can be found in Minnesota statutes. Accordingly, children are ready to enter kindergarten according to these stipulations in Minnesota Statutes:
While these factors may determine who is eligible for kindergarten, they do not predict how well a child will perform in kindergarten or beyond. With this in mind, the bulleted expectations above can be best described as eligibility criteria. When developing your goals for "All Children are Ready for School," you should be looking at factors that best predict future school outcomes. You also want to analyze your district and school-level data to help plan and prioritize your work. For example, if your elementary school has low attendance rates, you could conduct a back-mapping analysis to help determine what might be causing, or be contributing to, low attendance rates.
Achieving a Shared Understanding of What it Means to be Ready for School
If your organization/community is going to achieve a goal, you have to know exactly what it is and what you are working towards. Most school districts do not have an established definition of school readiness, let alone a broad understanding of what school readiness is, or how to determine if children are ready for school (and have achieved a shared understanding between early childhood and K-12 and the community, including families). To help facilitate this process, we have included suggestions below (resources and strategies on separate tab).
Suggestions
- Discuss the qualities and dispositions that best lead children to be successful in school
- Discuss whose responsibility it is for children to be ready for school. Is it the child himself, or the adults in the child's life?
- Look at definitions from other districts, states, and/or organizations. (included on tab)
- Work on developing a definition of all children ready for school.
- Make sure to include voices of adults who impact children's learning and development.
Writing Your WBWF Goal
See further guidance in the World’s Best Workforce Goal #1: All Children Ready for School Writing Goals and Strategies document found on this page: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/wbwf/
Data
North Star Accountability System and WBWF Data Profiles
Each year MDE releases WBWF district data profiles for four of the goal areas and teacher equity. School readiness does not currently have its own profile because no single statewide data source measures this information. Additionally, the state releases a district data profile for consistent attendance in alignment with Minnesota’s state plan under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These files include measures available at the state, but districts can use local measures as well to set WBWF goals. This goal-setting guidance can be used by districts to inform conversations with stakeholders in setting local goals.
Consistent with the WBWF legislation and in alignment with Minnesota’s North Star accountability system, some districts and charters are identified every three years for support and improvement. The School and District Accountability page provides more information on the indicators and identification process. MDE works closely with these districts on continuous improvement efforts, including selecting improvement strategies and using general education revenue to appropriately resource these strategies.
World's Best Workforce (WBWF) District Data Profiles
Click Here or go to: http://w20.education.state.mn.us/MDEAnalytics/DataTopic.jsp?TOPICID=234
North Star Accountability System
These files summarize data on schools and districts identified for support; provide comparison data for all available accountability indicators for each student group at the state, district, and school levels; and include information about performance relative to local goals established under the Achievement and Integration program.
Click Here or go to: http://w20.education.state.mn.us/MDEAnalytics/DataTopic.jsp?TOPICID=450
ECFE Community Needs Assessment
Consider connecting your needs assessment with your WBWF work.
Legislation
School Readiness Programs
Go to https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124D.15 and scroll down to Subdivision 3a (Application and Reporting Requirements):
Application and reporting requirements.
(a) A school readiness program provider must include a biennial plan in the district's world's best workforce plan under section 120B.11, describing how the school readiness program meets the program requirements under subdivision 3.
How this Impacts Districts and School Readiness Programs
While School Readiness Programs no longer submit a biennial plan to MDE, they are now required to describe how they are meeting School Readiness program requirements in their district's WBWF report.
Please note that the WBWF report is different than the WBWF summary (the report is posted to the district's website and will be much more detailed than the summary. The summary is submitted to MDE each year (the summary does not include School Readiness program requirements). From MDE's website, "WBWF legislation requires that districts submit a summary of the annual report to MDE each year. This summary is brief and simple, and MDE reviews and provides feedback to districts that can inform continuous improvement efforts at the local level."
https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/wbwf/
World's Best Workforce
Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.11
School district process for reviewing curriculum, instruction, and student achievement; Striving for the World's Best Workforce.
Click Here or go to https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120b.11
School Readiness Programs
While School Readiness Programs no longer submit a biennial plan to MDE, they are now required to describe how they are meeting School Readiness program requirements in their district's WBWF report (every other year).
The program requirements are in the School Readiness statutes: 124D.15, subdivision 3
A school readiness program provider must:
- assess each child's cognitive and language skills with a comprehensive child assessment instrument when the child enters and again before the child leaves the program to improve program planning and implementation, communicate with parents, and promote kindergarten readiness;
- provide comprehensive program content and intentional instructional practice aligned with the state early childhood learning guidelines and kindergarten standards and based on early childhood research and professional practice that is focused on children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills and development and prepares children for the transition to kindergarten, including early literacy and language skills;
- coordinate appropriate kindergarten transition with parents and kindergarten teachers;
- involve parents in program planning and decision making;
- coordinate with relevant community-based services;
- cooperate with adult basic education programs and other adult literacy programs;
- ensure staff-child ratios of one-to-ten and maximum group size of 20 children with the first staff required to be a teacher; and
- have teachers knowledgeable in early childhood curriculum content, assessment, native and English language development programs, and instruction.
