A diverse group of stakeholders in Minnesota has developed a statewide five-year plan, Minnesota’s Road Map for School Readiness. The plan is based on the premise that an early care and education system is made up of both programs and infrastructure. Key elements of the infrastructure are early learning standards, assessment, professional development, a quality rating system, governance, adequate resources and financing, and evaluation. Successful results in building the infrastructure help ensure that the programs needed by children and families are available, affordable, and of high quality.

Minnesota’s lead grantee is Ready 4 K, a nonprofit advocacy organization created in 2001 with four strategic goals: grassroots organizing, communications, business community involvement, and public policy development. Ready 4 K has made significant progress in planning for an effective, coordinated early childhood system. The organization and its partners on the Build Advisory Committee are now in the process of implementing key strategies as well as moving forward a public policy agenda for the 2006 legislative session.

In 2006, Ready 4 K will work toward school readiness in the context of four key outcome areas:

• Mobilize support for school readiness.
• Enhance quality choices for parents.
• Secure public and private funding.
• Strengthen accountability.

Within the context of these outcomes, priorities for 2006 Build work in Minnesota are:

• Move forward a Minnesota early childhood policy agenda.
• Develop finance strategies for funding a comprehensive, coordinated early childhood system.
• Build public support geared toward impacting the legislative agenda of the Governor and getting bipartisan support from the legislature for a school readiness legislative agenda.
• Continue to reach out to family, friend, and neighbor providers.
• Move forward to pilot a quality rating system.