Preschool
What is grade-level reading and why is it important?
“Grade-level reading” is a phrase that’s used often in the education world. But many parents may not know what it means – and why it’s so important. The basics Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is the most critical indicator of whether a child will...
Swati Adarkar and Sue Hildick on Oregon’s SB182
Senate Bill 182 would help early educators across the state access professional learning to increase the quality of early education. The bill would also allow K-12 schools to coordinate more with local preschools to ensure high-quality and seamless education in the...
Supt. Tim Sweeney on early learning in Coquille
Coquille School District Tim Sweeney is the guest for this edition of the Early Link podcast. Sweeney tells the story of the high school junior who led him to start early learning in his district and the increasing demand for high-quality early education on...
Take Your Legislator to Preschool Days
Children’s Institute invited state legislators to visit preschools in their districts to see the benefits of early learning first-hand. Legislators visited a wide variety of preschool classrooms where three and four year-olds were learning the pre-academic and...
Re-imagining Education Panel Discussion Recap
On Wednesday, February 15, renowned early education scholar and advocate Ruby Takanishi sat down for a panel discussion with three Oregon educators at the forefront of integrating comprehensive early learning into public school settings. In a panel discussion...
Early Learning as a Strategy for Achieving Equity
The United States is increasingly a nation of extremes with growing wealth and opportunity for some, and declining wealth and opportunity for many others. These stark social and economic inequalities are clearly reflected in how we educate our children. Some...
News and Updates from Yoncalla Elementary School
Yoncalla Early Works (YEW) began in 2012 as a partnership between Yoncalla Elementary School, Children’s Institute, and The Ford Family Foundation. The Early Works initiative brings parents, schools, and communities together to improve school readiness and academic...
Yoncalla Strives for Long-Term Change
In the fourth installment of the Early Link Podcast, and the last one for 2016, I visited Yoncalla in Douglas County to learn more about the community, our Early Works initiative, and Yoncalla Elementary's new preschool funded by Oregon's Preschool Promise program....
Early Learning at OMSI
For this segment of the Early Link Podcast, I brought my kids to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) to explore the exhibits and learn more about the science museum's involvement in early learning. We spent lots of time in the Science Playground...
Preschool Promise Update: Mixed Delivery Reaches 1,300 Children
Preschool Promise, enacted by Oregon’s State Legislature in 2015, began serving approximately 1,300 children across the state in September. In its inaugural year, the program is designed to deliver high-quality early learning opportunities to families with incomes...