User’s guide to Minnesota Milestones 2002

The 2002 update of Minnesota Milestones was created with the goal of making data, analysis and sources as easily accessible to users as possible. The online presentation of Minnesota Milestones 2002 achieves this through its interactive functions.

Interactive features:

• Index: The index contains a list of the 19 goals and 70 indicators and is organized into four sections: people, community and democracy, economy and environment. This page also links to an alphabetic listing of the 19 goals, 70 indicators and the 241 trends.
• Custom report: This feature allows users to search for data by selecting from the list of trends, or query by geography or keyword. Starting a search by geography allows a user to view all of the data that is available for a particular geographic unit such as for counties or school districts. If a trend or indicator is selected with county level data, a map can be created to display the data.
• Search: The search function allows users to search all of Minnesota Milestones 2002 pages by keyword.
• Summary: An executive summary is provided to highlight the trends in Minnesota Milestones 2002. (8 p., 47K, PDF)

Organization of the indicator pages:

Each indicator page contains text, web links, data and graphics to provide a comprehensive picture of each indicator.

• Goal: The goal statement for each indicator is followed by a brief elaboration on the goal. There are 19 goals in Minnesota Milestones 2002.
• Rationale: This section provides a brief description of why an indicator was selected to measure progress towards achieving a particular goal.
• Table and graph: A data table is provided along with a graphic depiction of the trend. When an indicator includes multiple trends, users have the option to view the graphs of each trend separately. Data is provided for every available year from 1990 to the present and sometimes for 1980 or other earlier years for a historical baseline.
• Local data: The availability of county, school district or other local data, if any, is noted under each data table. The source is the same as for statewide data unless otherwise noted in the technical note for the indicator.
• About the indicator: A trend description and important contextual information are included in this section. This section is intended to help the user better understand the indicator, and any progress.
• For comparison: Where available, comparisons or benchmarks provide context for understanding how Minnesota’s performance compares regionally, nationally or internationally. These include national averages, best-performing states and widely accepted standards. Some are objectives set by public or professional bodies or Minnesota statute.
• Things to think about: This section provides related information to encourage the reader to think more broadly about the indicator and progress being made in achieving the goal.
• Technical notes: Details about data sources, calculation methods, and other notes are found in this section.
• Sources: All sources are provided. Web links are noted where available.
• Related data trends: A linked list of related trends is provided. The underlying data that comprise indicators derived from more than one data source can be found in this list.
• Related Minnesota Milestones 2002 indicators: A linked list of other related Minnesota Milestones indicators is provided for users that may want to know more about a given subject.
• Other related indicators: Other indicators that are not in Minnesota Milestones but are related are listed. These are provided for users interested in learning more and for organizations developing their own performance measures. For the indicators that are not part of Minnesota Milestones 2002, data is not provided but is on most cases available from the listed source.
• Retrieve local data: Indicators that have either county or school district data have alphabetical lists to select from. Users can select one or multiple local areas.
• Create Map: Maps can be created for all indicators that have county data. Users can select a year and look at maps with up to five legend categories.

Other notes:

• Data by race and ethnicity: Classifications of race and ethnicity differ by data source. New Bureau of Census race and ethnicity classifications do not allow comparisons to 1990 or earlier Census data or data reported by the Departments of Health and Children Families and Learning. Classifications of race and ethnicity data from the Departments of Health and Children, Families and Learning are reported as White, Black/African American/ American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic. Census classifications are White alone, Black/African American alone, American Indian/ Alaska Native alone, Asian alone, Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander alone, some other race and two or more races and Hispanic/ Latino.
• Symbols: Data tables may include the symbol “N” which represents that no data is available, or “S” which represents that data has been suppressed.
• Population: All population figures are from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
• School years: School years span the fall of one year to spring of the next year. Data for school years is always labeled with the second year unless otherwise noted. For example, a school year spanning fall 2000 through spring 2001 would be labeled 2001 data.