Katharine Stevens interviews economist Arthur Rolnick, former senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, about his longstanding work with the Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships (MELS) program. Launched 20 years ago, the MELS program now provides scholarships to parents with children from ages prenatal to five throughout Minnesota.
Dr. Rolnick explains MELS’s core principles: 1) Target the most at-risk children, 2) Empower parents, and 3) Start prenatally. He also highlights the exceptional scalability of the MELS approach to expanding early education, which uses market forces to drive the expansion of high-quality programs. Finally, he calls for federal support and incentives to adopt this model nationwide.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
ABOUT THE GUEST
Art Rolnick is an economist, who's been on the faculty at the University of Minnesota since 2010 He previously served as Co-Director of the Human Capital Research Collaborative at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and, before that, worked for 40 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis as a senior vice president and director of research.
Art’s main expertise is in pre-Civil War banking, but he is well-known for his decades of work in early childhood and especially the Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships program, which he launched 20 years ago in Minneapolis. His work on early childhood development has garnered numerous awards, including those from the George Lucas Educational Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Health, both in 2007; he was also named 2005 Minnesotan of the Year by Minnesota Monthly magazine.
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Katharine Stevens interviews economist Arthur Rolnick, former senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, about his longstanding work with the Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships (MELS) program. Launched 20 years ago, the MELS program now provides scholarships to parents with children from ages prenatal to five throughout Minnesota.
Dr. Rolnick explains MELS’s core principles: 1) Target the most at-risk children, 2) Empower parents, and 3) Start prenatally. He also highlights the exceptional scalability of the MELS approach to expanding early education, which uses market forces to drive the expansion of high-quality programs. Finally, he calls for federal support and incentives to adopt this model nationwide.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
ABOUT THE GUEST
Art Rolnick is an economist, who's been on the faculty at the University of Minnesota since 2010 He previously served as Co-Director of the Human Capital Research Collaborative at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and, before that, worked for 40 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis as a senior vice president and director of research.
Art’s main expertise is in pre-Civil War banking, but he is well-known for his decades of work in early childhood and especially the Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships program, which he launched 20 years ago in Minneapolis. His work on early childhood development has garnered numerous awards, including those from the George Lucas Educational Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Health, both in 2007; he was also named 2005 Minnesotan of the Year by Minnesota Monthly magazine.
---------------------------------------
Subscribe to Early Matters:
Follow Us on Social Media:
See the Center on Child and Family Policy's Work: www.ccfp.org
Sign Up for Updates: https://www.ccfp.org/sign-up-for-ccfp-updates
Email the Show: EarlyMatters@ccfp.org.
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