This bulletin describes a first-grade "readiness program" developed at the Aumsville (Oregon) School District to help children who have been found to be at risk in a standard first-grade program. These students attend a readiness first grade designed to assist their development emotionally, socially, physically, and academically and only…

This bulletin highlights elements of the music programs in two Oregon school districts--David Douglas School District 40 and Salem School District 24J--that have kept these programs viable in spite of financial constraints. Ingredients for success of the overall music program at David Douglas are first described. Important elements include hiring…

Three writing projects in the state of Oregon, each of which uses a different approach to the teaching of writing, are described in this report. The first section of the report deals with the Coos County ESD Composition Improvement Project, which focuses on writing as a three-step process involving prewriting, writing, and postwriting. The section…

This bulletin describes two exemplary mathematics programs in Oregon: the Math Lab at Mountain View Junior High School in Beaverton and the Academy Math Program at Jefferson High School in northeastern Portland. The Math Lab at Mountain View is a weekly supplemental unit that is integrated into general math and pre-algebra courses for seventh and…

This bulletin traces the history of Oregon's Child Development Specialist (CDS) program, desribes development of the program model, discusses the qualifications and role of the specialist, presents a brief overview of the implementation of the CDS program in Salem (Oregon), provides evidence of the state program's success, and suggests methods for…

The Learning House Tutorial Center in The Dalles (Oregon) was begun in 1975 as an alternative program for students who had dropped out of the regular educational programs in The Dalles School District and neighboring Chenowith School District. Now serving over 75 students in a downtown location, the center's year-round program includes a summer…

This bulletin examines wellness programs and what they mean to Oregon educators. The opening sections describe what is meant by "wellness" and trace the growth of wellness programs in Oregon to the annual Seaside Health Education Conference. To illustrate how wellness programs operate, the next two sections describe how two Oregon school…

Suggesting that a missing link between effective practices and their sustained implementation is the "host environment" into which practices, programs, procedures, and pedagogy are translated, this bulletin describes the need for prevention and intervention models in beginning reading that are anchored to the school as the host environment. The…

Recent statistics show that nationwide about 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within their first six years of teaching. In an effort to encourage the persistence of new teachers and to enhance their productivity and competence in the classroom, many school districts have begun supportive programs for the beginning teacher, known as…

Oregon's low requirements for foreign language instruction at the secondary school level have caused Oregon students to place well below the national average in foreign language preparation, according to this report. The Oregon Governor's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies, created in 1980, recommended substantial increases…

During the next several years, nearly half of all U.S. principals will retire. Despite principals' crucial leadership role, the methods for training and selecting these administrators are often ill-suited for employing outstanding leaders. Patronage, favoritism, familiarity, or good impressions frequently prevail over merit. This bulletin begins…

Rapidly increasing capabilities and decreasing costs are making microcomputers ever more likely to find a significant role in education. Already valuable as management tools, the computers have shortcomings as instructional aids largely due to lack of adequate software. Rapidly increasing demand could provoke dramatic improvements in software in…

Drawing on documents and interviews with school staff, this report describes Oaklea Middle School, serving grades five through eight in the Junction City (Oregon) School District. An overview of the school's startup and philosophy stresses the priority assigned to students' educational, physical, social, and emotional needs. The author next…

In describing the K-12 reading program in the North Bend (Oregon) School District, this report presents a brief history of the program, discusses key aspects, and lists the program's standards. The program history covers its start in 1974, the effect of an earlier Right to Read campaign, and the district's adoption of the Macmillan basal reading…

This bulletin reports on five high schools that have effective, comprehensive student leadership programs. First, it reviews ways in which student councils can enrich students' lives. In addition to having a positive effect on students' success in school and later life, involvement in student activity programs influences the way that students…