ECLDS Newsletter: Community Assessment and Underenrollment Reports, and New Menu

Minnesota Office of Higher Education sent this bulletin at 03/25/2021 12:56 PM CDT

Community Assessment Report Launched

This new ECLDS tool is intended as a one-stop shop for much of the state-available information required for Head Start federal reporting in particular, but can also be used by school districts, county staff, local agencies, and others. The report pulls information from MDE, MDH, DHS, and the ECLDS Census tool. Access this new report in the ECLDS menu, under Birth to Pre-K Reports — or directly through this link .

Menu Navigation Updated

We’re always looking for ways to grow and improve the ECLDS website. When you visit eclds.mn.gov, you might notice a few changes. We’ve renamed and reorganized some of the menu options to help you more easily find what you need. For example, the former “Kindergartners” menu option is now named “Kindergarten Reports” so you better know what you’ll find when you click on it. We hope you find the new menu more user-friendly.

Pandemic-related Underenrollment Report Released

The Minnesota Department of Education’s Early Learning Services division has released a report documenting the underenrollment in school-based early learning programs and kindergarten in school year 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes impacts on children, families, and educators and has recommendations on how to mitigate the risks and challenges. Due to the ECLDS being retrospective, it will take a year or two before the pandemic’s effects on Minnesota’s public programs and services are evident in the ECLDS’s reports and charts.