For generations, teachers in the early elementary years have urged their young pupils to use their brains. They're still offering the same encouragement, but nowadays they can know even more about what they're talking about. Recent advances in neuroscience--from detailed scans of the brain to ongoing research on teaching methods that increase…

Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…

"Learning Readiness" is a public school initiative for all 3-4 year old children and their families in Minnesota. The purpose of the Learning Readiness programs is to provide all eligible children with adequate opportunities to participate in child development programs that enable them to enter school with the necessary skills and…

Although the Minnesota Business Partnership is generally pleased with the success of its school choice initiatives, it realized that more must be done to improve educational quality. Concentrating on learning readiness, this report discusses the role of education in a healthy society, describes the condition of education in Minnesota, and offers…