Afterschool and competency-based learning are increasingly emerging as student-centered, supportive learning models to prepare students for college and career. This white paper explores the intersection and relationship between these two fields, recommends ideal policy environments for implementing successful programs, provides real-world…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

A striking convergence of research, documentation, commentary, and policy in the past five years strongly suggests that an almost exclusive focus on academic knowledge and skills is an incomplete solution. Additional behaviors, skills, and mindsets--sometimes called metacognitive skills or 21st-century skills--are just as necessary for academic…

In January 2007, the Oregon State Board of Education mandated a new Oregon diploma that strengthened high school graduation requirements with the aim of improving student readiness for college and career. Among the major changes was a requirement that students demonstrate proficiency in nine "essential skills" that included the…

Covering the time period of January 1974 to June 1975, the report describes the activities of an ongoing project to provide verbal problem sets for occupational math courses offered in Oregon community colleges and secondary schools. The problems were selected to provide the math skills necessary for job entry and performance in several…

A strategy was developed to improve the administration of an Open Entry/Open Exit and Self-Paced Individualized Instruction (OE/OE and SPII) program in community colleges in Oregon. The variables affecting an innovative program are identified and discussed based on the author's practical experience, and a series of alternative ideas for decision…