Early childhood educators and those invested in improving early childhood education are engaged in a spirited discussion here on United Front about how a grant from the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge fund would benefit Minnesota’s children:

“I would like to see home visiting dollars being integrated into other programs such as School Readiness. If these programs had more access to these dollars, the amount and quality of family support could be greatly improved. This would allow for more creative programming so that families who do not fit into our “traditional” educational models can be involved in their children’s education (i.e., are unable to read, have had negative experiences within a “school” system, have basic needs that are not being met, are suffering from a mental health disorder, etc.). It would also allow educators to provide support to high-risk families and to become a family’s “secure-base” as they grow and develop parenting skills.” Trodee Jore (Early Childhood Family Education & School Readiness

“More study is needed to address the myriad issues integrated data systems raise, but the RTT can be the impetus to make real progress toward using technology and the large amount of information already collected toward improving outcomes for children and their families. Better integrating data also is important to an accountability system that focuses on the outcomes most important to educational and social services. A wide variety of stakeholders, including families, should be involved in the discussions.” Marcie Jefferys (Children’s Defense Fund MN)

Please visit the Minnesota Race to the Top Application page where we’ve posted the application criteria in an interactive format and use this opportunity to provide feedback and links to existing resources that address the specific criteria/policy areas/questions from the federal application.

Not long ago we were invited to work with an executive director and board members who were experiencing a clash.  The board’s proposed solution was to increase the amount of time it met in executive session. The executive director proposed to reduce his input to formal monthly reports. Needless to say, both proposals constituted one miserable formula for any mission achievement in that single organization.

So what can transpire when leaders from multiple organizations and multiple sectors come together to move the needle on a seemingly intractable social issue? What leadership characteristics support collective advancement? What characteristics stand in the way?

As committed as you may be to the five conditions required for successful collective impact (see Kania and Kramer’s Collective Impact), collective action also demands that the participants are equipped with an authentic desire to be curious, welcome different ideas and forge a common agenda that may require compromise. Leaders need to be willing to strive for jointly agreed upon measurable outcomes that will undoubtedly change their usual way of working. They will need to stay connected and in communication with collaborators including those with whom they disagree.

Over the past three years, MAP has studied what makes for successful leadership, resulting in this profile: The effective leader is one who mobilizes self and others to tackle tough challenges while keeping the societal issue at the center of the work. Such leadership rests on keen emotional intelligence including self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills.  Studies have shown, in fact, that emotional intelligence is twice as important as IQ and technical skills combined as a predictor of leadership success. Leaders who are interested in producing collective impact will require all the skills named above. Sound too hard? The good news is that these skills can be developed and strengthened through intentional learning and practice.
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Join Us to Learn More About Minnesota’s Application

Friday, September 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. watch the LIVE streaming
Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge information session at TIES in St. Paul.

Watch the LIVE Stream

1. Click on the link above (a new window will open)
2. You should see the banner page for the event  -  click on the “play” arrow in the
   center of the banner
3. After a short “buffering” experience the live stream will be shown
4. To switch to full screen display, double click anywhere in the window (if using Adobe Flash)

Have a question while watching the presentation?
Email questions to Racetothetop.mn@gmail.com or Rttt.mn@gmail.com.

A Letter from the Governor’s Early Learning Council Chair

Dear Minnesota Early Childhood Stakeholders,

As you’ve heard, the US Departments of Education and Health & Human Services recently launched the $500M Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant competition.  Final guidelines were released on August 22, and Minnesota cannot wait to start developing a plan for the Early Learning Challenge.  Much great work has already been done that should be reflected in Minnesota’s ELC plan.  We need your help in making sure all that good work is readily available as Minnesota prepares to develop an application.  Two national ECE organizations, BUILD and the First Five Years Fund, have come together as the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative to provide technical assistance to states interested in applying for ELC grants.  One of the tools they’ve developed is a template that lays out all the ELC criteria that were included in the federal application.

Please visit the Minnesota Race to the Top Application page, where we’ve posted the template in an interactive format.  Please use this opportunity to provide feedback and links to existing resources that address the specific criteria/policy areas/questions from the federal application.  This will help Minnesota stay focused on responding to the federal selection criteria using resources that already exist, rather than reinventing the wheel.  Please include links to any relevant documents, reports, minutes or other resources that you reference in your contributions, or cite the original source as specifically as possible.  You can also “vote” on feedback that others provide, to help the state get a sense of how much consensus there is around any particular resource.

If you were not able to attend the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Information Session last week, we encourage you to watch the LIVE stream video.

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Click here for the LIVE video stream

Summit Video Stream Schedule

The video stream will start at 8:00 a.m. CST on Tuesday, August 23. This event will be streamed from 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.; breakout sessions will not be streamed.

8:00-8:15 a.m. Violence in Minnesota
Sarah Caruso, President and CEO, Greater Twin Cities United Way

8:15-9:15 a.m. Collective Impact
Jeff Edmundson, President, Strive

9:15-9:45 a.m. Crime Victims Survey Results and Q&A
Liz Peterson, Greater Twin Cities United Way
Jeri Boisvert, MN Department of Public Safety

10:15-11:30 a.m. Keynote and Q&A: Adverse Childhood Experiences
Rob Anda, Senior Scientific Consultant, CDC

11:30-1:00 p.m. LUNCH
Inspiring Presentation
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and former CEO, Carlson

1:00-1:45 p.m. Statewide Plan release and Q&A
Minnesota Alliance Against Violence

Please review the Breakouts & Agenda for more information. Materials from all presentations and breakout sessions will be posted on the Family Violence Community page immediately following the Summit so be sure to check back.

Note: This live stream is being provided by Alpha Video.  If you are a Mac user, you will NOT be able to view in Safari.  Please use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox instead.

United Against Violence Summit

Join United Way, violence intervention and prevention practitioners, and those passionate about ending violence in Minnesota, for this free full-day workshop.

Radisson Plaza Minneapolis Hotel
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
35 S. 7th
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Directions

Featured Presenter
Dr. Rob Anda has conducted research in a variety of areas including disease surveillance, behavioral health, mental health and disease, cardiovascular disease, and childhood determinants of health.  He graduated from Rush Medical College in 1979 and received his Board Certification in Internal Medicine in 1982.  During 1982-1984 he completed a Fellowship in Preventive Medicine at the University of Wisconsin where he also received a Masters Degree (MS) in Epidemiology.

Visit the Family Violence community page for more event details.