Tag: Oregon Department of Education

Announcing the release of Foundations in Coaching: A new professional development resource for instructional coaches

teachers holding a poster of the alphabets
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

How do instructional coaches prepare to effectively support early
childhood educators?

As part of an ongoing collaboration with Oregon’s Department of Early Learning & Care (DELC), colleagues at Oregon State University’s Early Learning System Initiative spent more than a year developing activities to support those coaching preschool teachers in Oregon. This month, DELC and ELSI are pleased to release a new professional development resource: Foundations in Coaching.  

Participants in the Foundations course access online modules, currently available in English and Spanish, designed to build understanding of the Oregon Coaching Competencies. The Foundations course will be available in Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, and Russian by the end of 2023. These self-paced, interactive lessons provide definitions, examples, and practical applications of high-quality coaching in early learning settings. The finalized modules reflect changes made based on feedback from volunteers who completed a pilot version of the course.

The multi-lingual Foundations course is available free of charge to early learning professionals in Oregon who participate in the Oregon Registry Online, including colleagues who do not currently coach early childhood educators but may want to learn more about coaching. Once participants finish the Foundations course, they will:

In addition, participants who currently coach early childhood educators will receive an invitation to join the Oregon Coaching Companion – a bilingual, online tool supporting Practice Based Coaching with teachers of young children, funded by DELC in partnership with Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington. 

2022 Statewide Household Survey Report Released Examining Early Education and Childcare Needs  

Mom and dad and their two young children sit around a field after playing some family soccer together. The oldest, an elementary-age boy, has his arm around mom and has a big smile on his face. Little sister is pointing up at the sky.

The 2022 Statewide Household Survey Report has been released. The Preschool Development Grant (PDG) Research Team at Portland State University’s Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services (PSU) and OSLC Developments, Inc. (ODI) has published the report, which presents the results of the third statewide survey administered to parents and other caregivers of children aged 0 to 5. The survey was conducted from December 2022 through January 2023. The findings provide important information about the needs for child care and the challenges to finding care currently faced by Oregon families.

The results of the 2022 survey echo those of the 2019 and 2020 surveys in finding that both the cost and availability of child care continue to be challenges for most Oregon families. One of the most striking findings is that 41% of families report challenges finding child care have had an negative impact on their employment. The report also finds an increase in the number of families reporting that their child has been asked to leave an early learning program.

Researchers conducted outreach to over 400 agencies and organizations to reach families from across the state. Specific focus was given to outreach to agencies serving historically underrepresented communities and those in more isolated rural regions of the state. Families across Oregon’s 36 counties were invited to participate in the survey. Nearly 4000 parents, guardians and primary caregivers of young children provided feedback about their early education and child care needs.

Specifically, the 2022 survey focused on information about:  

  1. Families’ usage of child care, including type, frequency, and hours of care;
  2. Families’ satisfaction and challenges with finding child care for their child, as well as whether the services obtained were responsive to the family’s cultural background and/or home language;
  3. Whether children with an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), developmental disabilities, or chronic medical needs were able to access services they needed;
  4. Rates of suspension and expulsions from early childhood care experienced by families and reasons for these experiences.

The latest results show an important representative snapshot that will allow the new Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) to determine how the landscape of early care and education (ECE) services and supports has remained the same and what trends have changed in recent years.

The recommendations presented in the report will be used to strengthen the reach and impact of Oregon’s birth-five early learning and support system moving forward after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was made possible by a Preschool Development Grant which expired last year. Future family surveys that measure the needs of Oregon families may not be possible without additional funding.

To read the full report and see survey data, visit the DELC website Oregon.gov/DELC and search under 2022 Household Survey.

The DELC research staff and the PDG Research Team would like to thank all those who participated in the survey for sharing their needs, experiences, and perspectives.

Five things Oregon families should know about the Employment Related Day Care program and upcoming waitlist. 

If you want to learn more, visit Oregon.gov/DELC/ERDC. 

woman wearing blue top beside table
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com
  1.  Families who need help paying for child care should apply for ERDC by 11:59 p.m. on November 3, 2023. 

The Employment Related Day Care program (ERDC) helps eligible families who are working, in school, or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) pay for child care, including registration fees. You can apply in the following ways: 
● Visit Benefits.Oregon.gov 
● Go to your local office 
● Call 1-800-699-9075 

  1. If you are already using the ERDC program, you will continue to get benefits after November 3, 2023. 

To keep your ERDC, be sure to renew your benefits on time. You will get a notice when it’s time for you to renew. You can start your renewal 45 days before your eligibility period ends by:  

  1. You may skip the waitlist if your family has specific needs. 

Some families can skip the waitlist, including:  

  • Families reapplying for ERDC within two months of benefits ending  
  • Families getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)  
  • Families getting Temporary Assistance for Domestic Violence Survivors (TA-DVS)  
  • Families who got TANF or TA-DVS within 3 months of applying for ERDC  
  • Families referred by the Oregon Department of Human Services Division of Child Welfare  
  1. After November 3, 2023, you can still apply for the ERDC program.

After November 3, 2023, you can secure your spot on the waitlist or be screened to skip it. You can apply in the following ways:. 
● Visit Benefits.Oregon.gov 
● Go to your local office 
● Call 1-800-699-9075 

  1. The Department of Early Learning and Care has other programs that can help.  

It’s unclear how long the waitlist will last but it could be 18 months or more. If you need support paying for child care, please call 211  or contact your local  Early Learning Hub to apply for other affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs.  

Go to Oregon.gov/DELC/ERDC to learn more and check out the Waitlist FAQs. You can also click the resource guides below to get more information about different programs:  

ERDC Family Resource Guide 

English | Spanish | Russian | Chinese | Vietnamese 

ODE Seeking Director of Communications

The Oregon Department of Education is seeking an innovative and dynamic executive to lead our Communication’s Office. This position is a Principal Executive/Manager F, full-time, and serves on the agency’s management team. The purpose of this position is to provide agency leadership with a comprehensive public affairs program.  To accomplish this, the Director of Communications oversees the development and implementation of internal and external communication plans that aligns with ODE’s strategic direction.

This position serves on the Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction’s management team and works closely with the Deputy Superintendent, Chief of Staff and ODE’s assistant superintendents to develop and implement strategic communications internally and externally for the agency and provide public affairs expertise and recommendations.

Learn more about the position and how to apply here. Please help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity.

2017-18 Preliminary Kindergarten Assessment Results

2017-18 preliminary kindergarten assessment results show correlation with 3rd grade skills

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Early Learning Division (ELD) today jointly released results from the 2017-18 kindergarten assessment. This year, for the first time, there is a cohort of students who have taken both the kindergarten assessment and the 3rd grade assessment – providing more information for the state and local communities to use to target resources for young children.

“Although we only have one year of comparison data, there is a clear correlation between kindergarten assessment and third-grade assessment results. This confirms what we have always known: if we can support children to be ready for success when they enter kindergarten, they are more likely to be on track in 3rd grade,” said Miriam Calderon, Oregon’s early learning system director.

The kindergarten assessment is given each fall to entering kindergartners and provides a snapshot of students’ foundational skills in three core areas of learning and development: early literacy, early math and interpersonal/self-regulation skills.

2017-18 kindergarten assessment results

  • Early literacy skills remained about the same: Oregon kindergartners recognized 8.2 letter sounds, compared with 8.9 letter sounds in the 2016-17 school year; 14.4 uppercase letters, compared with 14.8 last year, and 12.1 lowercase letters, compared with 12.5 last year.
  • Early math scores showed an uptick, as students correctly answered 11.2 out of 16 simple math questions, compared with 8.5 of 16 last year. However, these changes may be due to changes to this portion of the assessment last year.
  • The interpersonal and self-regulation ratings were unchanged from last year.

Additional analyses will be released in the spring that provide disaggregated data by socio-demographic characteristics.  In addition, ODE and ELD will conduct more detailed analysis on students’ progression from kindergarten to third grade.

“Oregon made some important investments in early learning programs in recent years, but there is more work to do to reach all our children,” said Acting Deputy Superintendent Colt Gill. “We know quality early learning sets students on the path for success from kindergarten on through to graduation.”

Oregon’s 16 regional Early Learning Hubs, which work across education, health, human services, and businesses to support families with young children, use the assessment data to prioritize investments, such as Kindergarten Readiness Partnership and Innovation Funds (KRPI).

“As a community, this information provides us the opportunity to look at where and how to invest in services and early learning programs,” said Lisa Harnisch, executive director of the Marion & Polk Early Learning Hub.

Kindergarten assessment results, including district-specific data, are available here: http://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Pages/Kindergarten-Assessment.aspx.The initial analysis on the correlation between the kindergarten and third-grade assessments is available under “2017-18 Interpretive Guidance.”

Questions about the assessment can be referred to Brett Walker at Brett.Walker@ode.oregon.gov or 503.378.5160.

Media Contact: Lisa Morawski, lisa.morawski@ode.oregon.gov, 503.510.5576.