ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Minnesota Learning Project
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.
VISION
An education strong enough to make independence possible.
Every student should graduate able to read difficult material, write and speak clearly, use mathematics confidently, understand science and technology, evaluate evidence, manage personal finances, maintain a household, understand government, enter a career or advanced academic pathway, and continue learning throughout life.
MISSION
Research, develop, advocate for, and measure a mastery-first K–12 model.
The project prioritizes foundational academics, broad knowledge, intellectual independence, practical competence, and meaningful local control.
What we believe
Mastery comes first
Reading, writing, mathematics, science, knowledge, and reasoning are the foundations upon which nearly every other form of learning depends.
Curiosity should be cultivated
Childhood education should expand a student’s sense of possibility through literature, history, nature, science, mathematics, art, invention, technology, geography, and discovery.
Students should learn how to think
Students should learn to distinguish fact from assertion, evidence from opinion, correlation from causation, observation from inference, and sound reasoning from manipulation.
Education should prepare students for real life
A graduate should understand taxes, credit, insurance, employment, contracts, housing, healthcare, household finances, government, and technology.
Standards should measure outcomes
The state should establish rigorous expectations for what students know and can do while communities retain substantial freedom over books, curriculum, projects, and teaching approaches.
Instructional time is valuable
Every statewide requirement consumes classroom time, teacher preparation, administrative capacity, and public resources.
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.
Our policy objectives
- Restore foundational academic mastery as Minnesota’s highest K–12 priority.
- Build a coherent, knowledge-rich curriculum.
- Make reasoning and information literacy explicit goals.
- Establish adult independence as a graduation outcome.
- Restore meaningful local curriculum control.
- Protect childhood and developmental appropriateness.
- Measure academic and practical outcomes that matter.
- Require transparency and accountability for statewide instructional mandates.
The technical policy record
The objectives above are the accessible summary. The authoritative proposal is preserved as MLP-POL-01 through MLP-POL-08, with versioned language suitable for legislative, regulatory, standards, and district-policy work.
The graduate standard
A Minnesota Learning Project graduate should be able to read, write, calculate, reason, research, work, manage money, maintain a home, manage health, understand government, build or repair, continue learning—and remain curious about the world.
The Minnesota Learning Project 