• ABOUT US
• R&D DIVISIONS
• CAREERS
• NEWSROOM
• CONTACT US
• HOME

Saint Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program Evaluation

For the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF), SRI staff have developed and are conducting a 4-year process and outcome evaluation of the effectiveness of a market-oriented early childhood scholarship model being implemented in St. Paul, Minnesota. MELF is sponsoring a pilot project to test a demand-focused scholarship model as a way to increase the access to and quality of preschool and child care programs for children living in low-income neighborhoods. The model includes (1) parent mentoring to enhance parents’ knowledge about the characteristics and benefits of high-quality early education and care programs, (2) scholarships to pay for children to enroll in such programs, and (3) quality standards for participating programs. Through a collaborative planning process with MELF staff and the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) at the University of Minnesota, SRI developed the evaluation plan in 2007 and will implement the evaluation in 2008 through 2011. Longitudinal data on children, families, programs, and neighborhoods will be collected to see how the model relates to children’s development and school readiness, family outcomes, and the supply and quality of ECE programs.

(Minnesota Early Learning Foundation, 2007-2011)

Key Staff

Principal Investigator: Donna Spiker

Project Director: Erika Gaylor

Staff: Malissa Balmediano, Kathleen Hebbeler, Laura Neville