About CEED
We do research and evaluation, conduct program quality observations, and offer consultation services to organizations concerned with early childhood. We create and disseminate professional development for professionals who work with children and young families in all fields. We are also the home of the Trainer and Relationship-Based Professional Development Specialist Support (TARSS) program, serving the trainers and relationship-based professional development specialists who work with Minnesota’s early childhood educators.
Our history
Since 1973, we’ve supported early childhood professionals who help children from infancy through age eight learn and develop to the best of their abilities. Read about our 50th anniversary celebration.
CEED is a center within the Institute of Child Development (ICD) at the University of Minnesota. ICD is a premier source of scholarship, teaching, and research that is devoted to understanding and supporting how children learn and grow.
Our mission and vision
Integrating the science of early development to enhance the work of professionals through research, program quality, reflective practice, and professional development.
CEED envisions a highly-qualified early childhood workforce, open to learning and confident in their ability to support all children’s development in the context of safe and nurturing relationships.
Our philosophy and values
Relationships matter. Inclusivity, reflection, responsiveness, and cultural humility drive our work. Our values-driven ideals include:
- Supportive relationships
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Data-based decision-making
- Evidence-based practices
- Continuous quality improvement
- Respect
- Continual learning
- Science is not a secret; science should be shared
- Social-emotional, intellectual, and physical growth
Diversity statement
At CEED, we continuously work to recognize and respond to our own biases and the ways in which dominant groups have shaped long-held systemic inequities and norms in early childhood. We value diverse viewpoints and experiences and promote reflection in our work and the work of others. We are committed to equity, integration, and inclusion in our workplace and the broader community.
Land acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is built within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations.
We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for our American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.
Resources
University of Minnesota
- College of Liberal Arts, American Indian Studies, Community Engagement – a comprehensive list of student and community resources, scholarship opportunities, and outreach events put on by the American Indian Studies department
- College of Liberal Arts, American Indian Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies Workshop – a forum for graduate students and faculty members from all disciplines to come together and share research
- Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE), Circle of Indigenous Nations – a student services office for American Indian/First Nations/Alaska Native students at the University of Minnesota
- UMN Library, American Indian Studies – resources available at the University of Minnesota Libraries
- Center of American Indian and Minority Health – UMN department that works to recruit and educate Native American physicians, pharmacists, and health professionals
- Minnesota Indigenous Leadership Network – a network at UMN working to strengthen relationships with tribal leaders in rural and urban Minnesota
Native American history in Minnesota and the Twin Cities
- Local Dakota Land Map – downloadable visual and audio Dakota land maps of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding areas by local artist Marlena Myles
- Our Home: Native Minnesota – exhibit and resources at the Minnesota History Center
- Explore Minnesota, Museums and Historic Sites Share American Indian Culture – places around the state where you can learn more about its Native peoples
Land acknowledgements and the history of land treaties
- Why Treaties Matter – a comprehensive and thoughtful exploration of treaties and land theft in Minnesota. For our area, we recommend you begin by reading about the 1837 land cession treaties with the Ojibwe and Dakota, and the 1851 Dakota land cession treaties
- Where We Stand: The University of Minnesota and Dakhóta Treaty Lands – a discussion on land acknowledgements by Čhaŋtémaza (Neil McKay) and Monica Siems McKay in the journal Open Rivers
- How to Do a Territorial Acknowledgment – article from the University of Alberta
How to talk to children about Native American and Indigenous culture
- How to Honor Indigenous Peoples with Your Kids, Today and Every Day (PBS SoCal)
- Transforming Teaching and Learning about Native Americans (Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian)
- How Children’s Books Grapple With the Native American Experience (NPR’s All Things Considered)