Successful Students
Listening to Our Communities on Early Childhood: Medford
Photo Credit: The Learning Loft Preschool Last week, Children’s Institute staff visited Medford for two days to hear from parents and teachers and tour early childhood facilities with state legislators. From Coquille to Baker City, Redmond to the Rogue Valley, we...
Oregon’s Relief Nurseries Support Families and Keep Kids Out of Foster Care
Oregon's nationally recognized Relief Nursery model serves families with children ages 0–5 who are most at-risk for abuse and neglect. In 2019, Children’s Institute is joining a coalition of early childhood advocates to request an additional $5.6 million in funding...
More than ABCs and 123s: Health and Kindergarten Readiness
A work group convened by Children's Institute and the Oregon Health Authority has issued recommendations for health-driven metrics for kindergarten readiness. The goal is to drive system-level changes and improvements to kindergarten readiness, especially for children served by the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid).
The Time Is Now for Oregon to Invest in Early Childhood
The Early Years Are Critical Children experience their most profound cognitive, social, and emotional growth in the first eight years of life. Babies are born learners and their brains produce a million neural connections each second. By the time children reach...
Oregon Must Invest More in Young Children With Disabilities
While Oregon has prioritized developmental screenings for young children, the state does not invest enough in the Early Intervention (EI) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) children need once they are diagnosed with disabilities and delays. As a result,...
Black Student Achievement in Portland: A Conversation with Kali Ladd and Ron Herndon
In this segment, we speak with Kali Ladd and Ron Herndon. Kali is executive director and co-founder of KairosPDX, a nonprofit organization that houses a public charter school in North Portland. As an organization, Kairos is dedicated to closing opportunity and...
Q&A: A Kindergarten Teacher in Baker City, in Her Own Words
Over the summer, Children’s Institute highlighted the important work of early childhood educators, hearing from teachers across the state about their experiences teaching preschool and kindergarten. We’re wrapping up the series as fall approaches with some...
For Kids Going Back to School, Summer Experiences Matter
Educators and parents of school-aged children are likely familiar with the term “summer slide”— the loss of skills and knowledge kids can experience over summer vacation. The impact is widespread, with 90 percent of teachers spending at least three weeks...
SMART Helps Foster a Love of Reading in Young Children
In this podcast, we spoke with Chris Otis, executive director at Start Making a Reader Today, also known as SMART, and Michelle Gilmore, SMART’s senior program manager. SMART is a nonprofit organization focused on helping kids learn to read and getting more books...
Q&A: A Kindergarten Teacher in Beaverton, in Her Own Words
This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew...
