Equity & Innovation in Expanded Learning Systems (Executive Summary) [PDF]
(Full report will be available in 2020.)
Minnesota’s “opportunity gap” between white students and indigenous and students of color emerged as the nation’s worst. Education leaders recognized that they needed not only to change formal education strategies but also to work more closely with the expanded learning field in informal settings to improve outcomes for young people.
In Minnesota, Youthprise began its support of four regional intermediaries in 2012 to build expanded learning systems. It invested approximately $2 million in sites that represent a range of settings: the Youth Coordinating Board (YCB) in Minneapolis (urban); the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance (Alliance) for Youth (suburban); the Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) in Northfield (exurban and rural); and Sprockets in the capital city of St. Paul.
This executive summary is of a larger report outlining an emerging “Minnesota Way” of working to address these crippling gaps and capitalizing on the assets of Minnesotas diversifying communities, rich resources in thought leadership in service-learning, and youth leadership and development.
The report focuses on areas of innovation, and feature a salient attribute of each site to help paint pictures of approaches essential to the emerging “Minnesota Way.” This work is building from the Wallace model to enhance systems partnerships through the lens of equity and youth voice.
