SEAL Transforms School Systems

by Rafael Otto | Dec 10, 2019 | Podcast, Dual Language Learners

In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, we speak with Dr. Anya Hurwitz, the executive director of SEAL (Sobrato Early Academic Language). Rooted at the intersection of research and educational equity, the program is an English learner-focused approach to education. The model includes curriculum, professional development, and technical assistance so that schools and teachers can better meet the needs of English language learners.

Dr. Hurwitz has been a teacher, school leader, and district administrator. She has a doctorate in educational leadership from University of California Berkeley and has been on the SEAL team since 2014.

Learn More About SEAL

SEAL is a powerful English Learner-focused approach to education rooted at the intersection of research and educational equity. The bedrock values are a commitment to further developing the intellectual and linguistic genius of young children’s brains, honoring the value and role of a family’s culture and language in students’ lives, and helping teachers cultivate the skills and mindset they need to become powerfully effective educators.

A 5-year evaluation of SEAL found that despite starting school with language and academic skills behind their peers, SEAL students catch up or surpass peers on all measures, from language and literacy to math and science. Major findings show statistically significant gains in language, literacy and cognition, as well as a significant impact on family literacy.

SEAL partners with educational leaders across California. The program is already in over 100 elementary schools across 21 districts, and in over 130 preschool classrooms within 24 preschool local education agencies state-wide, working to transform the system by providing professional development, curriculum support, and technical assistance for educators. SEAL is helping English Learners turn their home language into an asset.

SEAL provides a clear pathway for California to meet the vision set out by the comprehensive English Learner Roadmap policy. With 10 years of practice and research that demonstrates an effective model, SEAL fosters systems change in two ways: by continuing to transform more classrooms, schools, and districts, and by advocating for state-level changes that focus on English Learners’ needs.

Visit SEAL’s website for more information.

Dr. John Kitzhaber on Health Care Transformation

by Rafael Otto | Nov 25, 2019 | Podcast, Health and Development, Health and Kindergarten Readiness

In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, we speak with Dr. John Kitzhaber, a physician and previous governor of Oregon, about ways to improve our health systems and re-frame the national healthcare debate.

Dr. John Kitzhaber is well known in Oregon and across the country for his expertise on health care and health policy. He has practiced as an emergency physician, served for 14 years in the Oregon legislature, and completed three terms as governor of Oregon. Through his service, he authored the Oregon Health Plan and was the chief architect of the state’s Coordinated Care Organizations.

The Oregon Health Plan (OHP) provides health care coverage for low-income Oregonians from all walks of life. This includes working families, children, pregnant women, single adults, seniors, and more.

A Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) is a network of all types of health care providers who are working together in their local communities to serve people who receive health care coverage under the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid). CCOs integrate physical, mental, and dental care with the goal of better health, better care, and lower costs. CCOs focus on prevention of illness and disease and improving care. This helps reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and gives people support to be healthy.

Additional Resources

Children’s Institute Health and Learning Initiative

Reframing the 2020 Health Care Debate by Dr. John Kitzhaber

CCO Health Innovations Support Early Learning Goals

On Effective Preschool with Dr. Christina Weiland

by Rafael Otto | Sep 16, 2019 | Podcast, Preschool Landscape

In this episode of The Early Link podcast, we speak with Dr. Christina Weiland, assistant professor at the School of Education at the University of Michigan. Dr. Weiland’s research focuses on the effects of early childhood interventions and public policies on children’s development, especially on children from low-income families. She is particularly interested in the active ingredients that drive children’s gains in successful, at-scale public preschool programs. Her work is also characterized by strong, long-standing research collaborations with practitioners, particularly the Boston Public Schools Department of Early Childhood. Dr. Weiland is also an author of book Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality.

In this conversation, we take a look at what it would mean for the U.S. to invest in a system that serves children under 5, with high-quality care and preschool programs available to parents who choose to access them. Thus far, Dr. Weiland points out, individual cities like Washington D.C. and Boston have been leading the way on effective preschool programming, but political will across the country is growing to ensure access to high-quality early education doesn’t depend on where you live.

We also discuss the features of high-quality preschool programs that are responsive to the way young children learn and aligned with elementary school. Finally, Dr. Weiland shares her views on the early childhood landscape here in Oregon.

Multnomah County Commissioner Discusses Preschool For All

by Rafael Otto | Aug 27, 2019 | Podcast, Oregon Research, Preschool Landscape

Oregon is the fourth least affordable state when it comes to preschool. State and federal funding provide preschool for only those families in deepest poverty, reaching only 15 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds in Multnomah County.

Last fall, Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson convened a task force to develop a road map for overcoming the barriers to providing universal preschool in Multnomah County. The task Force met from September 2018 through July 2019. In this episode of our podcast, we speak with Commissioner Pederson about the Preschool For All task force report, released this summer. Tune in to learn more about the task force’s recommendations to expand preschool access across Multnomah County for the thousands of children who are not currently being served.

Read the Report

Community Efforts Deliver New Health Clinic to North Douglas County

by Rafael Otto | Aug 13, 2019 | Podcast, Health and Development, Parents and Families

The Early Link Podcast is moving to the radio! We’re excited to join the Podcast Co-Op hosted by the Portland Radio Project (PRP). We’ll be airing new episodes on the second and fourth Sundays of the month at 4:30pm.

In our first episode for PRP, we traveled to the city of Drain, Oregon in Douglas County, where a new health clinic has just opened, thanks to lots of community-based work involving schools, parents, and advocates in the region. The North County Health Clinic is operated by the Umpqua Community Health Center based in Roseburg.

We visited the clinic during their recent open house. We wanted to find out what it took to open the clinic, and why the community was motivated to do so. We spoke with several people from the Umpqua Community Health Center, also known as UCHC: Ruth Galster, the UCHC board chair, Mark Tsuchiya, the UCHC marketing and development director, and Kendra Bickham, a grant writer at UCHC and member of the Early Works leadership team at Yoncalla Elementary. I also spoke with Sara Ruiz Weight, a parent leader at Early Works, and Andy Boe, the superintendent for the Elkton School District.