Don Grotting is the superintendent of the Beaverton School District. For more than 20 years, he has led school districts in rural and urban communities across Oregon. Grotting has received several awards and accolades for his work and leadership, including 2014 Oregon Superintendent of the Year from the American Association of School Administrators. He also sits on numerous boards and advisory committees, including the Governor’s Council on Education and Oregon’s State Board of Education....

In our 20th podcast, we sat down with Ruby Takanishi, co-editor of the NASEM report Promising Futures: Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English; Maria Adams, language development specialist for the David Douglas School District; and Perla Rodriguez, principal of Echo Shaw Elementary School to discuss the needs of English learners and dual language learners in our schools, communities, and early learning systems. We learn more about the recommendations to...

Miriam Calderon is the early learning system director of the Early Learning Division in the Oregon Department of Education. Before returning to Oregon in 2017 to lead the division, she helped build a birth-to-three system and universal preschool for the District of Columbia. She was also a senior fellow with the BUILD Initiative leading work pertaining to dual language learners and universal preschool, and served as a political appointee in the Obama administration.

An Interview with Ron Herndon by Children's Institute

Ready, Set, Go! Early Learning from Birth to 3 by Children's Institute

A Parent's Experience with Albina Head Start by Children's Institute

Ralph Smith from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading by Children's Institute

The Vroom Parenting App by Children's Institute

EKT Program Connects Kids Schools, Boosts Attendance and Literacy by Children's Institute

MIYB Luncheon Keynote from Professor Sean Reardon by Children's Institute

Professional learning for teachers with SB182 by Children's Institute

Superintendent Tim Sweeney on early learning in Coquille Oregon by Children's Institute

Unpacking 13 Percent ROI on Early Investments by Children's Institute

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. I spoke with teachers Megan Barber and Cassie Reigard, as well as parents Crystal Sampson and Kevin Hoyt, all of whom have deep ties to the Yoncalla community. More:...

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 learning about animals, playing in sand, splashing in water fountains and whirl pools, and building dams. We also visited Innovation Station and the Chemistry Lab, and after several hours felt like we had just scratched the surface of...

In this installment of the Early Link Podcast, we speak with Ruby Takanishi about her new book First Things First: Creating the New American Primary School. In the interview, Takanishi says, “primary education today reflects the social and economic divides in our country.” While some children in the United States are getting an outstanding world class education, many more children are in danger of being left behind. She describes early education efforts as essential to closing opportunity...

Children’s Institute is excited to introduce the Early Link Podcast with an interview with our president and CEO, Swati Adarkar. Focused on Oregon’s early learning system and the state’s new preschool program called Preschool Promise, the segment explores what’s happening as the program launches. Preschool Promise is part of an effort to help Oregon change the trajectory for vulnerable children and families by offering free, full-day, high-quality preschool to families at or below 200...