Project Spotlight: Creating Supports for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence
Posted on June 6, 2018
11 23578A brief overview of the new VOCA Campus Outreach and Advocacy Program, with an interview from Abby’s House Director Aislinn Addington, Ph.D., about what we can expect going forward.
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Project Spotlight: Investigating Executive Function Concerns in Infants and Toddlers
Posted on May 23, 2018
12 27433An overview of Project EF, with an interview from Principal Investigator Dr. Patti Blasco on recent developments.
Read MoreProject Spotlight: Reaching Out to an Underserved Population
Posted on May 9, 2018
10 22668An overview of the Oregon DeafBlind Project, with an interview from Project Director Jan Hearing on their goals for the next few years.
Read MoreProject Spotlight: Fighting Against Gender-Based Violence
Posted on March 14, 2018
1 12005An overview of WOU CASA (Campus Against Sexual Assault), featuring an interview with Abby’s House Director Aislinn Addington, Ph.D. on what we can expect from this project in the coming months.
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Project Spotlight: Increasing Diversity in Early Childhood Educators
Posted on February 7, 2018
5 12298An overview of Project PIECE, or Promoting Inclusion in Early Childhood Education, including an update from Dr. Patti Blasco on how graduates are already creating big impacts in their school districts.
Dr. Patricia M. Blasco Receives Merle B. Karnes Award
Posted on August 16, 2017
1 10879Dr. Patricia M. Blasco of The Research Institute at Western Oregon University has received the Merle B. Karnes Award for
Service to the Division for Early Childhood (DEC), a division of the Council
for Exceptional Children.
Child Development Center Gets a New Look
Posted on August 16, 2017
1 5192The
TRI Child Development Center is getting a new look.
This summer, staff members from the Child Development Center and the Center on Early Learning pitched in to remove old furniture (some of which had been in service for decades) and clear the space for repainting.
Read MoreTimothy Glascock Joins TRI as WOU Campus Against Sexual Assault (CASA) and Campus Suicide Prevention Director
Posted on August 16, 2017
0 5392Timothy Glascock will be joining WOU as the new project director of the WOU Campus Against Sexual Assault (CASA) and Campus Suicide Prevention programs. Both programs are funded by federal grants.
Read MoreProject Spotlight: Increasing Minority Participation in STEM
Posted on April 27, 2017
0 35840A look at the state funded initiative to increase minority participation in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields through the development of an Oregon Minority Participation center at Western Oregon and programs such as the Summer Bridge and STEM Scholars, including an interview with project leader and Western Oregon associate chemistry professor, Dr. Patricia Flatt.
Project Spotlight: Developing Open Education Resources for Chemistry
Posted on April 21, 2017
0 8122A look at the “Open Source Learning Materials for Introductory Chemistry Coursework” initiative to develop free online course materials to take the place of traditional textbooks for introductory chemistry courses, including an interview with project leader and Western Oregon associate chemistry professor, Dr. Patricia Flatt.
Lauren Peterson and Nate Winegardner Present at Southern Oregon OAEYC Winter Conference
Posted on March 7, 2017
1 4979On February 25, 2017, Lauren Peterson and Nate Winegardner from the
Center on Early Learning presented at the Southern Oregon Chapter of the
Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children (SOC-OAEYC)'s
Winter Conference, "Together for Children."
TRI Welcomes Mike Bicknell to the National Center on Deaf-Blindness
Posted on February 3, 2017
1 5119In January, Mike Bicknell accepted a position at the National Center on Deaf-Blindness as a Technology Specialist. He agreed to share a little about himself with us.
TRI Says Goodbye to Carol Dennis and Amy Parker
Posted on January 4, 2017
1 5539As TRI moves into 2017, we're saying goodbye to two of our valued staff members, Carol Dennis and Amy Parker.
Building Effective Programs - Resources from the Oregon Deafblind Project
Posted on December 5, 2016
0 2876Each month, Lyn Ayer, Director of the Oregon Deafblind Project (ODB), publishes a newsletter filled with interesting articles that help change the way we look at human development and education, with a special focus on students with disabilities. In the past, the TRI website has featured one article from the ODB Newsletter that jumped out as most fascinating.
This month, it was difficult to select just one article, so we thought we'd share the entire newsletter with you.
Enjoy!
Click here to download the ODB November Newsletter.
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DEC-Communicating and Connecting, Reflections by Amy Parker
Posted on November 17, 2016
2 3349By Amy Parker
TRI's Amy Parker presented at the 2016 Division of Early Childhood Convention which took place October 18 - 20 in Louisville, KY. Below are her reflections of the her time there.
It was a great opportunity to attend the Division of Early Childhood's (DEC) convention in Louisville, KY last month. In addition to having the pleasure of seeing one of our TRI colleagues, Patti Blasco, lead from the main stage, it was a delight to witness the energy of the DEC as a group who was celebrating their 30 year advocacy and implementation accomplishments for young children with disabilities and their families.
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Providing Vital Support and Access to Individuals with Deaf-Blindness
Posted on October 17, 2016
0 2938 Amy Parker and Leanne Cook, of TRI and the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, presented at the 2016 World Blind Union/International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (WBU/ICEVI) General Assembly, on August 22, 2016 as part of the ICEVI Day program.Education for Children with Visual Impairments and Additional/Multiple Disabilities or Deafblindness
Here is a reflection on their time at the gathering of professionals from around the world.
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A Profile in Caring: TRI’s Tom Udell Recognized for His Life’s Work in Early Childhood Education
Posted on September 6, 2016
0 2533By Carol Dennis
He wanted to be a middle-school math teacher. That was the plan back in the 1980s when Tom Udell studied at Western Oregon State College (now Western Oregon University). But a stint as a teacher at the on-campus Child Development Center changed his mind. Now, more than thirty years later, the lives of thousands of children and their families have been improved because of his contributions to early childhood education across Oregon.
Read More
Study of Executive Function in Babies Goes International
Posted on July 26, 2016
0 3338TRI's Patricia M. Blasco, Ph.D. presented at the Children’s Rights and Early Intervention Conference, International Society on Early Intervention, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, June 8 - 10, 2016.
Dr. Blasco has been working in early childhood development for more than three decades, contributing to the breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding in the field of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE).
Her current research is designed to explore “executive function (EF) in infants and toddlers born low birth weight (LBW) and preterm. This study examines whether traditional infant and toddler assessment methods that have components of EF in their structure can discern early indicators of executive functioning in three subgroups of children ages six months to three years,” according to the project's website.Read More
Attention - Its Importance in Making Connections
Posted on June 17, 2016
0 9975By Lyn Ayer
Originally published in the Oregon Deafblind Project May 2016 Newsletter.
In Lyn Ayer’s previous blog post, she looked at how touch informs vision and hearing, especially for children who are deafblind. In this blog, she explores what it means to get, and sustain, someone’s attention. “This is critical for any learning to happen,” says Dr. Ayer.
This article is filled with online resources for those who would like to delve deeper into the topic. Although this article is framed around the needs of people who have deafblindness, the concepts can easily be generalized to all people.
Read More
In Praise of Mistakes - Uncovering the Creativity in Mathematics
Posted on June 2, 2016
0 1698By Carol Dennis
When I think of doing math, I think of trying to remember what equation to use to get the circumference of a circle, or some memorized but long forgotten phrase to solve for the hypotenuse of a triangle, or even the more basic Times Table chants we used to repeat in school.
But after spending an hour with WOU’s Cheryl Beaver, Ph.D. (Mathematics Professor and recent Pastega Award recipient for Excellence in Teaching), I learned that math could be something quite inspiring – something fun and creative. And I learned that mathematics is actually all about making mistakes.
Read More
The Great Importance of a Little Pronoun
Posted on May 23, 2016
2 2252Being Aware of Students’ Preferred Pronouns
By Kathryn Ayres
In the midst of the North Carolina House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, and the most recent Target boycott, the conversation around what it means to be transgender has reached a heightened level of awareness in our country. The issue in both of these examples hinges on the use of public restrooms, but encompasses the broader issue of gender identity.
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What it Means to be Kindergarten Ready
Posted on April 25, 2016
1 1622By Lauren Peterson, Nate Winegardner, and Tom Udell for The Center on Early Learning
There is a lot of discussion throughout the state these days about “kindergarten readiness” – what it means, how to measure it, why it’s important, and how to accomplish it. There are many answers offered to each of these questions.
We at the Center on Early Learning (part of The Research Institute at Western Oregon University) have decades of experience in the field of early childhood education and development and have been asked by many of our colleagues to weigh in on this topic.Read More
WOU Research Project Helps Grow Pipeline of Minority Researchers
Posted on April 8, 2016
1 1623By Carol Dennis
Breaking an Historical Bias
Throughout its history, psychology research has been dominated by white Western culture. When white researchers research people of color, using elements from the dominant culture to measure or evaluate diverse populations, the findings may be less than flattering, even racist, and often causing great harm.
Dr. Stephanie Hoover (Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Western Oregon University) and her team are helping break this historical bias.
Read More
How Touch Informs Vision and Hearing
Posted on January 11, 2016
1 6461By Lyn Ayer
Lyn Ayer is the Director of the Oregon Deafblind Project. Lyn has been in Special Education for 41 years. Her jobs have been varied -- as teacher of the visually impaired/Orientation & Mobility instructor, principal of a school for the blind, rehabilitation specialist on a mobile team attached to an eye hospital, director of community programs in a rural area in India, director of a licensure program for training teachers of the visually impaired, and director of a state's deafblind project (12 years in Wisconsin, 8 years in Oregon).
The importance of developing the sense of touch
According to some researchers, touch is the sense that “educates” vision and hearing. It is how we associate tangible ideas with the distance senses of vision and hearing. We could be looking at something that we know is “soft,” but the only reason we really KNOW this, is because we have touched it or something like it, and thus learned the concept of “soft.” Vision didn’t teach us this.
Read More
Teachers and Grant Writing - What’s the Connection?
Posted on January 4, 2016
3 2501By Carol Dennis
I had heard that TRI’s Christina Reagle was scheduled to present a Grant Writing 101 workshop to a room full of Western Oregon University (WOU) students. Nothing unusual about that. But these students are about to graduate from the WOU College of Education and begin their first teaching jobs. Why would these new teachers need to develop grant-writing skills, I wondered? So, I went along to find out.
Read more to see the top 10 tips for beginning grant writers.Read More
How to Use Sign Language Interpreters Effectively
Posted on December 11, 2015
3 13684
By Leanne Cook
This blog post provides some basics about using a sign language
interpreter. Thanks to TRI's Leanne Cook for
providing this information.
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Participation in Professional Association Crucial to Career Success
Posted on October 21, 2015
0 1428By Carol Dennis
The first opportunity Patti Blasco had to attend a Division for Early Childhood (DEC) International Conference was as a graduate student at the University of Virginia in 1988. She had heard about this professional association through her professors, who were very involved with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the parent organization of the DEC.Because Patti’s interest is in early childhood, it made perfect sense that she would be attracted to the work of these groups. So, while still a graduate student, she joined the CEC and the DEC.
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The Power of Connection
Posted on October 21, 2015
0 1638by Julie Maier, CDBS Educational Specialist
Originally printed in the California Deaf-Blind Services newsletter -- reSources Summer 2015 (Vol. 20, No. 1)
Re-printed here with permission of the author.
People who are part of the world of deaf-blindness – either personally, as a family member, or as a professional – are aware of the importance of social connections and relationships for individuals who are deaf-blind, as well as the challenges of making, supporting, and sustaining those connections.
One of my most indelible memories from this past summer occurred in late June near the end of a rather impromptu picnic lunch at San Francisco’s Crissy Field between members of DeafBlind Citizens in Action (DBCA) and a few students from the San Francisco State University Specialization in Deaf-Blindness teacher training program.
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Education Evaluation Center – Providing Services That Are Key To Oregon's Future
Posted on September 30, 2015
2 4817With the growing numbers of adults returning to college to explore second or third careers, especially veterans returning from war with PTSD or brain injury, the work of the EEC is more important now than ever. With the focus on all children in Oregon going beyond high school into college or careers, the services provided by EEC are essential to the success of our collective futures.
Through a lens of decades of experience, and access to
the most current and effective assessment tools, the team at the Education
Evaluation Center (EEC) constructs a comprehensive, individualized,
family-centered assessment for children and adults with cognitive and learning
disabilities.
Western Oregon University Athletics to Play Leadership Role in Fostering Healthier, Safer Campus
Posted on July 21, 2015
0 2490Western Oregon University selected to participate in Healthy Masculinity Initiative
"Every day we hear news stories about violence but rarely, if ever, are they linked to masculinity. It’s time to make the connection between the epidemic of men’s violence in our country and what society is teaching boys about masculinity. The traditional 'boys will be boys' mentality is beginning to change."
This is the opening statement on the Men Can Stop Rape web page describing the Healthy Masculinity Action Project - a national grassroots movement that began in 2012 to "eradicate the harmful expectations and stereotypes our society teaches boys about what it means to be a man."
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Oregon’s QRIS - Using Data to Strengthen Impact
Posted on July 21, 2015
0 2077Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) exist in some form or phase of development in 49 states across the country. The function of each QRIS is to set basic standards for child care programs in the state, and to offer supports and resources to help those programs reach and exceed those standards.
In a typical week during the spring of 2011 (the latest numbers available from the U.S. Census), 12.5 million, or 61 percent, of U.S. children under 5 years of age were in some type of regular child care arrangement – including with relatives and non-relatives.
As the demand for quality child care increases across the country, the importance of collecting data also increases. Only through the collection and evaluation of reliable and objective data can any system ensure that its goals are being reached. And with QRIS, these important goals exist to give each and every child a solid foundation for a successful life.
Read More
Keeping Educators in Education - ODE Mentoring Program
Posted on June 17, 2015
1 1432By Carol Dennis
Teacher turnover costs Oregon school districts $40 - 50 million dollars a year.
School districts across the state just hired a lot of new teachers
School districts across Oregon are hiring new teachers. With declining budgets turning slightly back toward the positive, districts are seeing some programs and classrooms coming back. Add year-round kindergarten, and some school districts are experiencing a flood of beginner teachers fresh out of college. With all these new teachers comes the challenge of getting them up to speed as quickly as possible -- in time to keep all their students on track.Read More
Robyn Lopez Melton Honored as 2015 Emerging Leader in Early Childhood Education
Posted on May 27, 2015
4 1794TRI’s Robyn Lopez Melton received another national honor, and we at TRI couldn’t be prouder.
Last year, Robyn was appointed to the Nominating Panel of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
The Nominating Panel helps this nationally recognized organization choose its leadership for the next three years.
Robyn Lopez Melton - 2015 Emerging Leader Award
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Students Improve the Environment Through EPA-Funded Projects
Posted on May 18, 2015
0 1279S.I.T.E. Grant Produces 17 Successful Projects
Last year, we received an excited email from Mary Beth Tilson, biology teacher at Delta High School in Pasco, Washington. She wrote to tell us that she had just been selected to present at the Sustaining the Blue Planet: Global Water Education Conference in Big Sky, Montana. That email confirmed that the S.I.T.E. program was doing something really great.
What is S.I.T.E.?
Read More
Oregon Mentoring Program - Teacher Training that Works
Posted on May 13, 2015
0 2586By Carol Dennis
You walk into the classroom for your first day of prep – not
just this school year, but ever. You are finally a teacher – a career you have
dreamed about since you were 10 years old. As you step through the door you
notice the bulletin boards and walls are empty. This is almost a surprise,
since every classroom you have ever been in was covered with posters and
artwork and positive messages. But this is YOUR classroom and YOU get to choose
what goes up.
Raising the Quality of Early Childhood Education Through Oregon's QRIS
Posted on May 13, 2015
0 1496"Being part of the QRIS gives me a feeling of pride. It is an opportunity for my program to be recognized as a quality program in the state." Mrs. Teapot's Tiny Tots
"Not only do the parents view me as more of a professional, but I view myself as more of one as well." Elli's Preschool & Daycare
"QRIS is amazing. It started me thinking about my education, and now I am working, a mom of 5, and a full-time college student. Thank you, QRIS!" Lisa's Family Day Care
These are the kinds of statements we hear from child care providers who
are participating in the statewide field test of Oregon's Quality Rating
and Improvement System (QRIS).
Oregon Traffic Safety Education Teachers Get Certified
Posted on April 17, 2015
0 2064 By Taylor LeechBeginning in January 2015, three groups of new candidate instructors (in
Oregon City, Redmond, and White City) eagerly awaited the first day of
their Traffic
Safety Education (TSE) classes. For 10 weeks, the instructors-in-training
attended a
series of in-class, online, and behind the wheel trainings. Upon
completion of
their training this past March, 15 instructors emerged as Oregon
Department of Transportation,Traffic Safety Division-approved driver
education instructors.
My Long Journey to the Answer – Part 3
Posted on April 13, 2015
3 2611Why should it have to take courage?
By Carol Dennis
I’ve had a full month to digest the report that came out of my learning assessment at the Education Evaluation Center (EEC). That time has been filled with questions, self-reflection and new insights.
There are so many thoughts going through my mind all at once. I’ll try to sort them out and put them into words.
Read More
Meet Dr. Linda McDowell - New Director of the Center on Deaf-Blindness
Posted on March 25, 2015
0 5422On February 16, 2015, just two weeks after her arrival at TRI, I sat down with Dr. Linda McDowell to learn about the woman who now serves as the Director of TRI's Center on Deaf-Blindness (CDB). Housed within the Center on Deaf-Blindness are the Oregon Deaf-Blind Project and the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). Included in her position as Director of TRI's CDB is the responsibility of serving as Executive Director of NCDB - which coordinates and serves deaf-blind projects in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Island nations.
It was fascinating to learn how she found her passion in the field of Deaf-Blindness.
NEWLY PUBLISHED BREAKTHROUGH STUDY OFFERS HOPE TO FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Posted on March 25, 2015
1 2473Study on decreasing autism symptoms published in time for April’s National Autism Awareness Month
As National Autism Awareness Month approaches in April, a newly published breakthrough study in the peer-reviewed journal Autism Research and Treatment is giving hope and respite to parents of children with autism. This federally funded autism study conducted by The Research Institute (TRI) at Western Oregon University (WOU) confirms previous small scale studies reporting effectiveness of a breakthrough treatment for young children with autism.
Read More
My Long Journey to the Answer - Part 2
Posted on March 1, 2015
5 2692Part 2 - Assessment Day
By Carol Dennis
Seven hours of oral and written questions, puzzles, and interviews left me exhausted and exhilarated. The morning after, I felt like my brain had run a marathon - buzzing from all the mental gymnastics. Exhausted, exhilarated, and so glad I did it.
The “it” was having myself tested to see if my long-held suspicion that I have a reading disability is true. (See my previous post for more details.) And the answer turns out to be yes and no. I’ll explain that later.
Read More
My Long Journey to the Answer
Posted on February 22, 2015
6 2383Part 1 - Learning assessment at 62 years old
Several months ago, I went through an emotional and eye-opening experience writing an article about the Education Evaluation Center at TRI. Learning that there is a place filled with kind, wonderful, knowledgeable people who can help a person find out why life can sometimes feel like an unsolvable puzzle, I couldn’t help wondering if they might find an answer for me.
Read More
Abby's House App - From a Student's Perspective
Posted on February 16, 2015
3 1620By Taylor Leech
We have all heard the horror stories about the assault that can happen in college, so naturally I was worried when I first came to WOU. Luckily, I learned about Abby’s House and all of the great services they provide. Not only do they provide resources for sexual violence, but they also have information on a multitude of subjects like women’s health, depression, and gender identity. And now they have the Abby’s House mobile app that brings even more peace of mind with resources and services for dating violence and sexual assault available at your fingertips!Read More
TRI Conducts Research on Executive Function in Babies Born Low Birth Weight
Posted on February 2, 2015
1 2174By Carol Dennis
The Research Institute, in partnership with the Oregon Health &
Science University (OHSU), has begun recruiting for a study on
Executive Function in infants and toddlers born Low Birth Weight (LBW).
"It is so exciting to have cutting-edge research happening at TRI," says
Dr. Ella Taylor, Director of TRI. "Since it was founded, more than 50
years ago, TRI has conducted research studies that have dramatically
changed the face of education in America." For example, Dr. Edward
Palmer's research on what holds the attention of pre-school children to
television, that took place at TRI back in the 1960s and 70s, became the
foundation for the Children's Television Workshop that created Sesame
Street. “This new study on Executive Function in babies born Low Birth Weight has the potential to transform the field
as Dr. Palmer's research did in education,” Dr. Taylor stated.
Read More
Doing Everything We Can to Keep our Students Safe
Posted on January 12, 2015
2 2816A new mobile app becomes part of a wider campaign to prevent sexual assault on WOU campus
By Carol Dennis and Jeff Denton
With a new focus on a very old problem, incidents of sexual assault on college campuses across the country have grabbed headlines and raised questions about the safety of our children as we send them off to college – many who are on their own for the first time. Western Oregon University’s Abby’s House (Center for Women and Families) is joining a growing number of universities to develop campus-specific smart-phone apps that will give students easy access to resources to keep them safe from assault, and provide support and advocacy if a student has been a victim or witness of a sexual assault.Read More
TRI Receives $1 Million ODE Grant to Develop Elementary Math Instructional Leaders in Oregon
Posted on December 3, 2014
0 2385TRI Receives $1 Million ODE Grant to Develop Elementary Math Instructional Leaders in Oregon
The Teaching Research Institute (TRI) at Western Oregon University (WOU) has been awarded a $1 million grant by the Oregon Department of Education to recruit and educate 60 teachers in the mid-valley and mid-coastal areas to become Elementary Mathematics Instructional Leaders (EMILs). Project DEMILO (Developing Elementary Mathematics Instructional Leaders in Oregon) is a collaboration between WOU, TRI, the Willamette Education Service District, and the Oregon Coast STEM Hub to address the need for increased math content knowledge for elementary school teachers.Read More
Special Publication Dedicated to the Memory of a Boy Named Ethan
Posted on November 26, 2014
0 1770 A personal note from TRI's Amy Parker, Coordinator of Professional Development and Products with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, about a boy named Ethan.Read More
Software Development Dilemmas Solved
Posted on October 23, 2014
0 2144TRI-TIMS (Technology and Information Management Services) has a 13-year track record of delivering quality software on time and on budget to Oregon state agencies and national non-profits. We took the time to examine what characteristics of TIMS workflow has lead to our successes, and what obstacles and threats we have learned to avoid.
What came out of that exploration is a framework of best practices that we found can put a project – and keep a project -- on track. Below are the 3 essentials for working with software developers that can move your work forward without busting the budget or costing you sleep.
Read MoreProject PEPI Widens Reach of Inclusion in Oregon's Early Childhood Education
Posted on September 19, 2014
0 3977 Project PEPI (Preparing Early Childhood Educators for Inclusion) is designed to fill in the gaps that currently exist in Early Childhood Education curriculum in Oregon’s community colleges to support the inclusion of children with disabilities and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. After a successful roll-out of a pilot program within four Oregon community colleges, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP – a division of the US Department of Education) decided to expand the program and has increased funding to Project PEPI by $90,000.00 for the 2014-15 academic year. This increase is allowing the project to add three additional community colleges, nearly doubling its reach.Read More
RESEARCH STUDY USING MASSAGE SEEKING CHILDREN AGES 6-11 WITH AUTISM
Posted on August 27, 2014
2 15405 The Teaching Research Institute (TRI) and Louisa Silva, M.D., M.P.H. are announcing a first-time opportunity for parents with children between the ages of 6 and 11 with autism to enroll in a research study to receive free training and treatment. Enrollment has recently been extended through Sept. 12, and is open to residents of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Linn, Benton, Lincoln and Lane counties.Read More
EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL CHILDREN - TRI on the cutting edge of inclusion
Posted on August 21, 2014
0 13016This past July (2014), TRI faculty and staff were invited to present at national education conferences across the country to share their innovative approaches to inclusive education -- assuring that all children have an equal opportunity to succeed. Freshly back from the OSEP Project Directors
Meeting (the Office of Special Education Programs), and the 2014 Deaf-Blind Summit, they share their thoughts, observations
and reflections.
TRI Staff to Present Unique Approach to Program Rating at the QRIS National Meeting
Posted on July 16, 2014
0 6802By Carol Dennis
After a successful presentation on Oregon’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) at the 2014 National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development in Minneapolis, TRI staff members Robyn Lopez Melton, Pat Aldrich and Tom Udell were invited to repeat the presentation at the QRIS National Meeting, July 23-25, 2014 in Denver. The Portfolio Approach: A cost-effective measure for evaluating program standards focuses on Oregon’s unique use of a portfolio system to document standards as a cost effective approach.
Read More
S.I.T.E. Project Gets National Attention
Posted on June 19, 2014
0 12325 TRI received great news from Mary Beth Tilson, Biology teacher at Delta High School in Pasco, WA. She has been selected to present at the Sustaining the Blue Planet Global Water Education Conference, taking place June 24 – 27 in Big Sky Montana. Why is this important to TRI? Because the student program that will be the centerpiece of her presentation was funded through a sub-grant received from TRI as part of a larger U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. The SITE projects had to meet standards for both effective environmental education and service learning.Read More
For the Sake of the Children: Oregon's QRIS Field Test Launches Statewide
Posted on April 17, 2014
1 12994http://triwou.org/projects/qris
On February 18 - 20, 2014, Oregon’s Quality Rating & Improvement System field test for early childcare programs prepared to launch statewide with a three-day training held at Western Oregon University. The following article reflects the excitement surrounding Oregon’s QRIS launch.It had been a very busy week at the Teaching Research Institute (TRI), Center on Early Learning. A dozen people working into the evening hours printing, collating, and making final decisions about the order of things. Banners and flyers had to be designed - centerpieces assembled. PowerPoint presentations copied into grand notebooks would serve as a great remembrance of what would be taught. The staff was exhausted and excited, and wondered where they would find the energy to sustain themselves for the three-day training that was now less than 12 hours away.
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TRI part of newly awarded Mid-Willamette Valley Promise Consortium
Posted on April 8, 2014
0 1382
The Oregon Department of Education has announced that the Mid-Willamette Valley Promise Consortium has received a $500,000 grant for a collaborative program that will expand the ways that high school students in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties can earn college credit during high school. The Consortium is a collaboration between 20 school districts in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties, Willamette Education Service District, Western Oregon University’s Teaching Research Institute, Oregon Institute of Technology, Corban University, Chemeketa Community College and the South Metro-Salem STEM Partnership. This model, called the “Willamette Promise”, is based on the Eastern Promise program and will create additional opportunities for high school students to participate in college-level classes, as well as earning college credits or certificates. The Willamette Promise was formed to create an educational environment that empowers all students to envision post-secondary and career success. This consortium will offer these opportunities to school districts serving over 77,000 students.
Read MoreTRI Awarded Grant to Close Opportunity Gaps for Students who are Culturally and/or Linguistically Diverse
Posted on April 7, 2014
0 13200
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) recently awarded $200,000 to WOU’s Teaching Research Institute and College of Education, one of nine competitively funded grant awards, to support Project High Five – Culture, Collaboration, Commitment, Communication and Community. The project is a collaborative endeavor between WOU, Central School District 13J, the Ella Curran Food Bank, and the Oregon Child Development Coalition to develop a strong Professional Development School (PDS) partnership program between Central School District and Western Oregon University based on principles of culturally responsive pedagogy while strengthening and expanding English Language Development (ELD) for English Learners and being actively involved with community partnerships and service to the community.
Read More