Early childhood has long been known to be a formative time in a child's development-- a time when the brain produces more than 1 million neural connections every second during the first few years of a child's life. However, there are factors at the individual and community levels that impact the development process. In communities across America,…

Evidence strongly supports the notion that juvenile offenders, both with and without disabilities, are significantly more likely to experience successful reentry into their home schools and communities if appropriate programs and supports are in place. In spite of this, comprehensive state-level reentry programs for youth are few and far between.…

The Foundation for Educational Choice recently commissioned a new study to examine the economic and social costs of Oregon's high school dropouts. Emily House, the study's author, analyzed how dropouts in the state dramatically impact state finances through reduced tax revenues, increased Medicaid costs, and high incarceration rates. House's study…

Findings from a literature review on dropout prevention were integrated with suggestions from Oregon educators. Ideas included examples of universal interventions (such as student advisory programs), dropout interventions for at-risk students (such as community-based learning), and interventions for individual students (wraparound interventions).…

A program was implemented in Oregon to screen infants at risk for hearing impairment, based on a birth certificate question concerning family history of hearing loss and subsequent parent notification of the need to have the infant's hearing tested. Preliminary results concerning efficacy of the program are reported. (JDD)

This report, required by the Oregon legislature, describes the state's Head Start prekindergarten program and the program's achievements during the 2001-2003 period. The report delineates the federal and state funding for the program during this period, and the number of programs, classrooms, and children served, noting that 61 percent of all…

This report describes four demonstration projects, funded from July 1989 to December 1990 in Oregon, on early identification and prevention of mental and emotional disorders in children. The intention of the projects was to find ways to identify children at risk of suffering emotional disorders and to intervene early enough to prevent these…