Ralph Smith from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

by Rafael Otto | Sep 25, 2017 | Community Engagement, Federal Policy, Grade Level Reading, Oregon Policy, Podcast

Ralph Smith is managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (GLR), an initiative to mobilize communities to third-grade reading proficiency for children from low-income families. The GLR network now includes more than 300 Campaign communities in 42 states.

Smith has served on the boards of the Council of Foundations, the Foundation Center, Venture Philanthropy Partners, and the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation. Recently, he retired as senior vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and also served as a cabinet officer for the School District of Philadelphia. Previously, Smith taught Corporations and Securities Law and Education Law and Policy as a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, during which time he also served as a senior advisor to Philadelphia’s mayor. Smith led efforts to design and implement the school district’s landmark voluntary desegregation plan, negotiate some of the nation’s first education reform-driven teacher contracts, and develop Children Achieving, a district-wide blueprint supported by the Annenberg Challenge.

In this interview, we discuss how GLR is designed to help communities create solutions for kids, the concept of accountable advocacy, the role of philanthropy and state leaders, and much more. Listen, download, and share!

Ralph Smith visited Earl Boyles Elementary in September 2017, a GLR Pacesetter community.

The Vroom Parenting App

by Rafael Otto | Sep 22, 2017 | Featured Programs, Parents and Families, Podcast, School Readiness

Learn about Vroom, a free tool designed to stimulate parent-child interactions with brain building activities. Created by the Bezos Family Foundation in partnership with the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University, the app is for parents and educators and now offers a new texting service.

This segment features Ari Wubbold, the Vroom coordinator for the Oregon Department of Education Early Learning Division.

Listen, download, and share!

Quotes from the Q&A

0:34 Vroom was created by “the Bezos family foundation along with neuroscientists… with over 1,000 brain-building interactions you can do with your kids.”

1:00 “In 2014 we met with the Bezos Family Foundation … and wanted to include it in Oregon. In 2015, we put a plan in place to put it out statewide … particularly those families who are furthest from opportunity. So we’ve reached out to Head Start programs, tribal group, teen parent programs, migrant education groups, those sorts of programs.”

1:46 Families and early childhood professionals can access Daily Vroom through an App. “The way that it works is you simply enter the age of your child and their first name and you start receiving activities immediately.” The web site also has tons of resources in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese and other languages: www.joinvroom.org. You can also visit OregonEarlyLearning.com/vroom to see what parnters around the state use Vroom.

3:03 There’s also a texting service that rolled out this year. “Our goal is to reach as many families as possible. A lot of families don’t have a smartphone … so we want to make it available in other ways.” To receive activities via text, text CHILD to 48258 or to receive in Spanish, text HIJO to 48258.

4:23 All of the activities are designed to empower. “There’s nothing on there that’s going to judge a parent or tell you that you’re doing something wrong.”

5:19 “All you do is give (Vroom) your child’s age and first name … and you’ll start receiving activities that are age appropriate for your kid.” If you’re doing laundry, at the dentist office or in the grocery store, you can choose activities that would be a good fit in that location. As your child grows, the app adjusts the activities to suit their age range.

7:17 “My goal has been, as the coordinator, is to put this tool in the hands of as many families as possible so they can make that decision. Being a parent is tough … so something that’s free and that you can take with you on the go is helpful.”

7:47 A lot of parents don’t want to put a screen in front of their kids. But with Vroom, you read the activity on your phone, then put the phone down and interact.

9:26 “The biggest benefit for early childhood professionals is just the amount of content that’s available. If you go on Vroom’s website, there are playbooks on how to incorporate it into the classroom. For teachers, it’s the same as parents – you’re looking for content and resources.”

11:00 What’s next for Vroom in Oregon? “We have a partnership with a group called FIND at University of Oregon … they film interactions between a parent and child then review those interactions. We’re looking at working with them on a long-term study to incorporate Vroom in those interactions.”

12:00 They also incorporated Vroom at a correctional facility’s Head Start program. The mothers who used it felt more confident in their ability to parent their children.

Everyone has what it takes to be a Brain Builder!

EKT Program Connects Kids to Schools, Boosts Attendance and Literacy

by Rafael Otto | Aug 31, 2017 | Chronic Absence, Podcast, Program Evaluation, School Readiness

With school back in session, many young children are just getting to know their kindergarten classrooms. To help with the transition, school districts in Multnomah County have offered an Early Kindergarten Transition program to students who have not had preschool or have a primary language other than English.

Known as the EKT program, a new five-year study found that students who participated in the three-week intervention showed higher attendance rates and early literacy skills over time.

Here’s Dr. Beth Tarasawa, manager for education research partnerships at the Northwest Evaluation Association and lead researcher on the study, to explain.

Read the paper in the Journal of Applied Research on Children: Leveraging University-School District Research Partnerships: Exploring the Longitudinal Effects of an Early Kindergarten Transition Program

Quotes from the interview:

0:40 “The program aims to increase parental involvement, reduce chronic absenteeism and enhance the development of early literacy skills,” which are indicators of academic success down the line. The free, three-week program helps children adjust to school and helps their parents learn how to support their child’s learning.

1:24 “There’s a lot of work in terms of who is recruited to this program … the director and her colleagues have done really structured recruitment to historically marginalized families in the area.” They do this by connecting with schools, nonprofit networks and organizations to identify kids who would benefit the most from the program.

2:36 “The intervention is designed for kids who haven’t had structured school experience.” They’re also more likely not to speak English at home and need free or reduced-priced lunch, among other factors.

3:30 “If we can provide them a really welcoming place — free transportation, free food — it’s really an incentive to get kids here.”

3:50 “We started tracking students in 2010, so this is a five-year study … preliminary results were very favorable.”

4:57 “Our findings suggest that EKT students tend to outperform non-EKT students.” They were also much less likely to be chronically absent from school.

5:46 “What’s exciting about this is that it’s really about the longer-term impact. There’s a lot of research on the national scene about these types of programs” and their effectiveness at increasing high school graduation rates, for example.

7:14 “It’s not just an intervention for students. It’s also for their families.” For example, the program teaches parents how to read a report card and determine where their child is doing best and areas where they may need help. That way, parents can be more engaged in their child’s education.

8:40 “If you think about the social network of mothers and fathers and guardians, information can spread quickly. We’ve worked with some Somali families and the information we provide to one family gets passed around to other families in their community.” She said that helps build trust and demonstrates that “it’s not just top-down or schools teaching out” but schools who want to engage parents, no matter what their family situation or language.

Toward Equitable Achievement in Oregon with Abdikadir Bashir Mohamud

by Rafael Otto | Aug 21, 2017 | Benefits of Preschool, Community Engagement, Featured Programs, Parents and Families, Podcast

This segment features Abdikadir Bashir Mohamud, executive director at the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees of Oregon and the program manager for the center’s Preschool Promise Program. In this interview, we discuss the purpose of CAIRO as a social change organization, the Somali community in Oregon, collective efforts to change education outcomes, and much more.

Selected quotes:

2:09 “The biggest wave of Somalis arrived here after the Civil War that erupted in Somalia in 1991 … Since then, Somalis have been increasingly coming to this state. We mostly come here as refugees and asylum seekers.”

5:01 “We talked to teachers, parents and students. For us, education… required the collective efforts of all these primary stakeholders.”

5:50 “Out of that report came about the need to organize ourselves to have an advocacy organization. That’s how CAIRO came about.”

6:59 “We have students who were born in difficult times … for example, an 8-year-old student who doesn’t speak English, who has never had a formal class in math. All the sudden, they move to this city and are thrown into a class.”… “The second category are those who were born in this country or came in as infants and did not have the opportunity to go to preschool or kindergarten. So by the time they go to school, they’re playing catch up.”

8:18 “We try to do what we can. I think the best place to do that is at the early learning centers. How can we send our kids to school as early as possible.”

10:53 “When we’re talking about learning, we’re not just talking about the academics piece. For us, the social piece is equally important. The cultural piece is very relevant. We try to give all those tools and perspectives to the student.”

12:26 “We’ve been through difficult times before but I think we are in the most difficult times now. What is unique about the Somali community in Oregon is that they fit into almost any category to be a target for hate crimes: We are immigrants, we are refugees, we are black … on top of that and perhaps the most important is that we are Muslims.” He said recently a student’s headscarf was pulled from her head and staff excluded a middle school student due to the way she was dressed.

17:01 “I was very proud of is our last parent-teacher conference. I have personally given rides to mothers – driving to their home to pick them up, take them to the conference and drive them home.

21:25 “Initially, there was this belief in the community that it was too good to be true. We would have a family register their kids in two schools – they’d register with us, but just to be sure they’d register with the school district. Now, we have a long waiting list. I get calls 2-3 times a week by parents asking.”

22:32 “I might be naïve or ignorant of the political nature of this state. But what I profoundly believe is that we should never politicize education. There shouldn’t be politics about ensuring children learn equitably and successfully across any lines or background. I am frustrated in having a conversation about how do we maintain what we have. We should be talking about how to expand what we have…”

Waverly Elementary’s innovative preschool program: Engaging kids with best practices

by Rafael Otto | Aug 10, 2017 | Benefits of Preschool, Featured Programs, Podcast, Program Evaluation, Teacher Voice

In this episode, we talk to lead teacher Katy Allaback and assistant teacher Carlos Sanchez about Waverly Elementary School in Albany, where an innovative preschool was built from the ground up.

This is part two in our podcast about Waverly’s preschool. Listen to the first installment here.

Segment Highlights

1:00 “They need to see their own self-efficacy. They need to know that they can actually do many things on their own and we absolutely believe in their capability,” Albach says.

2:00 Carlos discusses teaching in English and Spanish.

3:00 Katy discusses visiting each family in the home before the school year started and why that was an important first step.

6:15 “We notice behaviors change,” Sanchez says. “They like that constant routine … and what we see is they become more independent.”

« Older Entries

Next Entries »