Policy & Parenting briefs

The Oregon School Readiness Research Consortium is committed to disseminating their research findings to practitioners, policy-makers, educators, parents, and other researchers throughout the state of Oregon. Policy and Parenting briefs published by the OSRRC can be found below:

RESEARCH BRIEF: Ensuring Enrollment into Early Intervention Programs

Ensuring Enrollment into Early Intervention ProgramsBy Erica Twardzik, Megan MacDonald, and The Oregon School Readiness Research Consortium

Attending Kindergarten comes with many challenges for young children, one of which is adapting to a new environment. Adapting to a new environment will take time, but the transition can be accelerated by the development of certain skills that help prepare children for change.

Within this brief we will:

  • talk about the importance of developing skills that assist children with the transition into Kindergarten
  • discuss how delays in the physical domain can influence later life success and academic achievement
  • provide suggestions to policy makers on how to revise current practice that will promote age-appropriate development of motor skills for all children in the state of Oregon, ultimately aimed at better school readiness

Download the research brief (pdf)

RESEARCH BRIEF: English Language Learner Students Entering Kindergarten in Oregon 

By Guadalupe Diaz, Megan McClelland, Karen Thompson, and the Oregon School Readiness Research Consortium

ELLs enter kindergarten with a range of academic, self-regulation, and linguistic skills, but there are clear discrepancies in the achievement of ELLs when compared to non-ELLs.

Within this brief we will:

  • define ELLs under federal laws
  • examine how ELLs are performing on Oregon’s Kindergarten Assessment (KA) and
  • examine how English Language Proficiency is related to the performance of ELLs on the Oregon Kindergarten Assessment.

POLICY BRIEF: Understanding Communities Sheds Light on School Readiness 

Understanding Communities Sheds Light on School Readiness By Shannon Lipscomb, Alicia Miao, Jennifer Finders, Bridget Hatfield, Katherine Pears, Brianne Kothari, and the Oregon School Readiness Research Consortium

To help inform strategies to improve children’s school readiness, this study looked at readiness community by community.

Within this brief we will:

  • How does school readiness differ across communities within Oregon?
  • What factors help to explain these differences?

Download the policy brief (pdf)

PARENTING BRIEF: What Parents Can Do to Support Children’s Executive Function Skills

By Staci Ebadirad, Bridget Hatfield, Beth Green, Denise Rennekamp, and the Oregon School Readiness Research ConsortiumWhat Parents Can Do to Build Skills for School Readiness and Success

When children are able to pay attention, control their impulses, plan, reason, and solve problems they tend to be more successful in school and in other aspects of life.

Within this brief we will:

  • talk about the importance of executive function (EF) skills for children’s success.
  • discuss are three ways parents and other caregivers can help promote EF.
  • provide some fun activities and resources to support the development of EF.

Download the parenting brief (pdf)