Preschool
2020 NIEER Report: Federal/State Partnership Needed to Expand High-Quality, Full-Day Preschool
As expected, the COVID-19 pandemic set back state preschool enrollment and funding across the country, according to the 2020 edition of The State of Preschool Yearbook by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Rutgers Graduate School of...
Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson Honored with Alexander Award
Children's Institute is pleased to honor Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson with the Alexander Award for her efforts to implement a universal preschool program in Multnomah County. The Preschool for All ballot measure, which passed in November,...
Dr. Walter Gilliam on Preschool Expulsion and Bias
Dr. Walter Gilliam joins us in Portland for a discussion on preschool suspension, expulsion, and implicit bias. He is professor of child psychiatry and psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center, and the director of The Edward Zigler Center in Child...
Foregrounding Racial Equity in Early Childhood
In this episode of The Early Link Podcast, host Rafael Otto speaks with Elena Rivera and Soobin Oh from Children’s Institute about the importance of racial equity in early childhood spaces and how the Children’s Institute is working to center racial equity in its...
Beyond Fadeout: Why Preschool to Elementary School Alignment Matters
The news about the long-term benefits of preschool in recent years has been somewhat contradictory. Widely reported studies have suggested that gains in language, literacy, and math skills from preschool programs like Head Start appear to “fadeout” by third grade....
How Did Oregon’s Children Fare in this Election?
While national politics and the presidential election have consumed the lion’s share of voter attention these last few days, Oregon’s well established vote-by-mail process offers more concrete outcomes for local races and ballot measures. Here’s a round up of...
Podcast: Hadiyah Miller, Black Child Development PDX
In this week’s episode, host Rafael Otto speaks with Hadiyah Miller, president of the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children (ORAEYC) and chairperson of Black Child Development PDX, about combating the expulsion and suspension of Black children in...
Parents Wrestle with School and Care Choices in Pandemic
Melissa Tyler of Ontario, Ore., worries about sending her 5-year-old son into school this fall during a pandemic. But she’s even more concerned about Mason, who has Down’s syndrome, slipping behind. “I think socially he could be losing ground; that is my biggest...
Schools Push for Equity Against Forces of Pandemic
After the pandemic closed Oregon schools this spring, teacher Nicole Odom and her assistants at McKay Elementary in Beaverton depended on parental help to remotely teach their preschoolers. They prepared video lessons, learning activities, songs and Zoom sessions,...
Parents and Teachers Weigh Quality vs. Safety in Pandemic
As Oregon educators prepare to open schools this fall, they are searching for ways to give their youngest students quality education while keeping them safe in a pandemic. That goal poses an enormous challenge if they physically open and an even bigger one if they...
