We describe how a modified version of an emergency survival strategy led our team in addressing problems of practice identified in two second grade classrooms. We attended to the urgent needs of students by enacting the curriculum with integrity, doing what was most important and effective, while accommodating their classroom context (LeMahieu,…

Freshman year has been identified as a very important year in high school. It has been shown more than any other year to determine whether a student will complete high school or drop out. Schools who examine grade-level data on a regular basis often find that freshmen students receive the most office discipline referrals and most failing grades,…

Teachers at Jackson Elementary School in Hillsboro, Oregon, embrace a growth mindset and continuously try best practices that better reach all students. They collaborate and bounce ideas off one another, and they observe one another and provide feedback. They will even ask another teacher to model lessons with their students so they learn how to…

Determined parents are powerful advocates at all levels of our society. Parents can move mountains for their child, and they often do. State teams that actively collaborate with parents gain new perspectives, ideas, and energy. Statewide transition planning teams welcomed the authors--three parents who are also professionals active in the deaf…

At Larch Corrections Center, a men's prison in Southwest Washington, GED® Faculty Lauren Zavrel has created two original programs: an internship program for graduate students to gain experience in corrections education, and a tutor training curriculum for inmate teaching assistants (TAs) who tutor GED® and business students. Graduate interns…

Digital publications now provide immersive interactive experiences for users of tablets and other mobile media devices. The ever-changing technology challenges educators to adapt curricula to better prepare students for an uncertain future. This article chronicles the creation of award-winning "OR Magazine" at University of Oregon, which…

This resource was prepared in response to a request from a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) State for information about the Transformation Zones that 10 RTT-ELC States had included as key projects in their RTT-ELC plans. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase the quality of…

One of the states served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) requested the center's assistance in compiling information regarding educational support for Native American students. To obtain this information, SECC staff contacted 16 states that have state agency contacts for Indian Education and/or that indicate a population of more than…

For the state of Washington's one-hundredth birthday, in 1989, Native peoples there decided to revive a distinctive mode of transportation--long-distance journeys by canoe--along with an entire culture associated with it. Born as the "Paddle to Seattle," during the past two decades these canoe journeys have become a summertime staple for…

Biggest obstacle to Eugene, Oregon's plans to integrate middle school curricula is finding time to enable staff to develop a common vision of the future to build upon. Despite adoption of a flexible scheduling pattern, more time is needed for staff development, training, and cooperative instructional unit development. Creating teaching teams to…

Explores how schools and community agencies collaborate to meet needs of at-risk youth, focusing on four youth services teams located in two rural Oregon counties. Challenges included loose structure, lack of defined objectives, lack of common understanding of related roles and responsibilities, school leadership burden, time management, need for…

This monograph describes the Conciliation Project, which was developed to resolve conflicts between parents and schools in Lane County (Oregon) regarding students' special education programs. The project uses trained community-based mediation teams in a prescribed and structured process for resolving disagreements; the process is intended to be…

This report on Community Vision, Inc. is part of a series documenting innovative supports for community living for adults with severe disabilities. Community Vision was created as an alternative to facility-based services in Oregon that would intentionally focus on providing inclusive community living for those with the most severe disabilities…

In a number of human service offices in Oregon's Jackson and Coos Counties, workers from multiple programs work together in shared offices to provide families with ready access to a wide range of benefits and services. Other factors besides co-location that have proved critical to these programs' success are as follows: shared intake and…

The Community Transition Team Model guides the process of systematic program change in secondary special education and transition programs in Oregon. The model uses a management-by-objectives paradigm for implementing its principles, which include local control, a developmental perspective on change, a focus on program capacity, and networking…