Saving the Future

To get a better “raw product,” Benson and others believe, requires instilling that capability for learning as early as possible.

“It’s absolutely necessary that at-risk, low-income kids get good experiences in their first years of life—otherwise, their brains will not develop to their potential or their ability,” says Chad Dunkley, COO of Plymouth-based New Horizon Academy child care centers and a supporter of the MELF scholarship program.

"The bottom line," says MELF Executive Director Duane Benson, "is we more than likely don't have the luxury to have many throwaway [children]."

Rolnick and Grunewald’s research shows that about 80 percent of a child’s brain is developed by age three—that means that a child’s earliest experiences have the most impact on his or her development. By three, most kids will have developed language and literacy skills, thinking skills, self-confidence, and self-control, and have a secure attachment to their caregiver. According to Ready 4 K, children who are ready for school exhibit some common behaviors: They can write several letters correctly, do and count jumping jacks, follow classroom rules, ask for adult help to resolve conflicts, and wash and dry their hands with only occasional reminders to do so.

So how are the state’s children doing?

The Minnesota Department of Education requires three- and four-year-olds to undergo early-childhood screening before starting public kindergarten. Offered throughout the year by school districts, the screening process helps identify learning or health concerns before kids start school, and connects parents with programs if their child is in need of assistance. Vision, hearing, motor skills, language and social development, thinking skills, and physical growth are evaluated, and parents must prove that their child has the required immunizations.

But about half of the roughly 60,000 kids taking the assessment each year fail, and the majority of those kids are considered at risk. “About half of those [kids who fail the assessment] catch up by third grade,” Benson says. “What you have left then is that about 25 percent that never really do catch up. If you track that on down the line, that’s roughly our dropout rate for graduation.”

Of the children tested in 2005–2006, 22,456 health and/or developmental problems were identified. (Some of those tested had more than one problem.) These kids may undergo further evaluation, and can be referred to programs such as Head Start.

But MELF contends that while Head Start and other state and federally funded programs offer some financial and developmental support for at-risk kids and their families, only 60 percent of low-income children are currently served. In addition, state and federal child-care funds for needy families aren’t sufficient to get their kids into the types of facilities that have the education skills that can help them develop.