THE MINNESOTA LEARNING PROJECT
Build capable, curious, independent adults.
The Minnesota Learning Project is a nonprofit education policy and advocacy organization working to redesign public education around academic mastery, curiosity, independent thinking, practical competence, and preparation for adult life.
Our mission
To research, develop, advocate for, and measure a mastery-first model of K–12 education that prioritizes foundational academics, broad knowledge, intellectual independence, practical competence, and meaningful local control.
Education should not decide what a child must believe about the world. Education should give the child enough knowledge and intellectual ability to decide for himself or herself.
What should an 18-year-old actually be able to do?
Our answer is concrete. A graduate should be able to read difficult material, write and speak clearly, use mathematics confidently, evaluate evidence, understand science and technology, manage personal finances, maintain a household, understand government, enter a career or advanced academic pathway, and independently learn something new.
K–5: Discover & Master
Build fluent readers, confident mathematicians, broad knowledge, scientific curiosity, imagination, and the basic tools of learning.
6–8: Understand & Reason
Develop systems thinking, logic, evidence, algebra, statistics, experimentation, coding, civic mechanics, and practical problem solving.
9–12: Prepare for Independence
Combine rigorous academics with taxes, credit, insurance, housing, health, contracts, careers, trades, government, and adult independence.
Six policy priorities
Master the fundamentals
Restore literacy, numeracy, writing, science, and broad knowledge as Minnesota’s highest K–12 priorities.
Teach students how to think
Make logic, evidence, source evaluation, statistics, and information literacy explicit parts of the curriculum.
Prepare students for adult life
Make money, work, housing, health, contracts, technology, and government part of graduation readiness.
Restore local curriculum control
Let the state define measurable mastery while communities and educators retain greater freedom over curriculum and instruction.
Protect childhood
Keep age appropriateness, curiosity, developmental readiness, and emotional burden central to curriculum decisions.
Measure what matters
Evaluate schools and policies by student outcomes, practical competence, and the opportunity cost of statewide mandates.
Explore the work
- Why Minnesota Needs a Reset — the academic and policy case for reform.
- Educational Philosophy — the principles behind the model.
- Curriculum — the grade-by-grade mastery framework.
- Measurement & Accountability — how outcomes should be tracked.
- Minnesota: Current vs. Proposed — a documented comparison.
- Implementation & Legislative Transition — how the framework could replace the current system.
- Evidence & Sources — primary statutes, standards, assessment data, and research.
The standard
Minnesota should judge public education by a demanding but understandable result: whether its graduates can read, write, calculate, reason, research, work, manage money, maintain a household, understand government, solve problems, and continue learning independently.
The Minnesota Learning Project 