Children's Institute

'supporting early years and early grades success: early school success (ess) is a long-term approach that provides school districts with The tools needed to offer developmentally appropriate instruction to children from preschool through fifth grade. Ess is designed to make preschool and elementary school alignment possible while transforming The learning experience to yield better outcomes for children, families, and educators. To date, ess has trained over 150 educators, aligned instruction for more than 10,000 students, and supported improved attendance and literacy outcomes in pilot districts beaverton, forest grove, lincoln county, and st. helens school districts. The early school success academy ("academy") offers a one-year cohort-based learning experience for educators and leaders working to strengthen early learning and early grades in their district and is building a statewide network. The academy specifically targets and recruits school districts in rural communities and typically sees rural districts making up 50-65% of participants. District teams from across Oregon come together four times a year for professional learning sessions and ci provides coaching to help them implement their learnings. During The 2024-25 school year, educators from 15 school districts participated, impacting The educational experience of over 50,000 students. Recognizing The unique needs of remote rural communities, ci launched a rural coaching program in 2025. This model builds on lessons from our 10-year partnership with yoncalla school district, ess, and The academy. A dedicated rural coach works alongside school and community leaders to identify strengths and needs, offering tailored coaching in high-quality early learning, vertical alignment, and early literacy.research is clear on The importance and effectiveness of early literacy, beginning at birth and continuing through third grade. With statewide reading proficiency hovering around 40%, ci added an early literacy specialist to provide coaching and content support across ess, The academy, and rural coaching. This specialist strengthens literacy capacity among educators and caregivers, equipping them with essential skills to foster early literacy development from preschool to third grade.

Research and design: a tremendous amount of academic research and population data exists in The early childhood field, and ci plays a key role in synthesizing and disseminating information, translating complex information into concrete tools for policy- and decision-makers, and illuminating promising practices to help craft program and policy solutions in The Oregon context.ci engages with research in three ways: translate large-scale research and population data in ways that influence policy and programs, evaluate ci's programs and initiatives, and apply research practices to shape advocacy and program design and implementation efforts. Some examples of how ci's research has shaped statewide efforts include:- listening sessions, surveys, and policy working groups focused on preschool access, p-3 alignment, and strong kindergarten transitions to inform statewide policy and systems change efforts. - statewide preschool and workforce survey research to better understand district preschool capacity, access, funding, transition practices, and workforce needs across Oregon. - research, policy summaries, and data analysis on issues such as early literacy, social-emotional health, developmental screening, early intervention, and The early childhood workforce.- continued advancement of prior statewide research and design efforts, including work related to Oregon's social-emotional health metric, The Oregon kindergarten assessment, and early childhood special education and preschool inclusion modelsacademic research and community needs assessments influence program development and The way in which ci pilots its work in communities around The state. Ci then learns from ongoing research and evaluation efforts to improve our program initiatives and bring forward scalable practices and policy concepts at The state and national levels.

Public policy and advocacy for early childhood care, education, and health: ci creates public policy and advocates for public investment in early childhood programs, services, and health systems that support children and families. Ci does this through a coordinated strategy for developing a bold early childhood policy agenda that engages families and providers and cultivates champions across education and health. Ci convenes Oregon's early childhood coalition (ecc), a partnership of more than 50 state and national organizations who advocate at The state legislature to improve outcomes for Oregon's youngest children and families. Ci works with and alongside community partners to elevate The voices of parents, providers, and educators. In this work, ci emphasizes racial equity and economic justice in The development and implementation of an early childhood advocacy agenda for Oregon. Ci translates large-scale research and population census data in ways that influence policy and programs. The research-based policy recommendations are informed by local and national promising practices, lived experiences of families and providers, community leaders and organizations, and national trends. The ci team collaborates across sectors and across geographies to develop and advance recommendations for state investments and laws that increase access to and impact of high-quality early childhood programs, services, and health supports. Ci values The research to policy continuum for systems change and use a robust communications strategy to advance ci's vision. That strategy employs a range of tools and tactics that allow us to share vital information about The early childhood landscape, define priority issues, shape policy, illuminate advocacy, and strengthen The narrative around The value and importance of early childhood investments. Ci is actively working to expand The reach in rural areas, low-income communities, and to communities of color in both urban and rural settings.

Early childhood equity collaborative: since january 2023, Children's Institute has been The fiscal sponsor of The early childhood equity collaborative (ecec). The ecec is a coalition of community-based organizations providing culturally specific services and programs to children and families. Ci operates as The fiscal sponsor for The ecec in its efforts to increase investment in culturally specific organizations to provide early childhood programs and shift The public narrative to make equity a public priority in Oregon's early education system.