Page 10
The INDEPENDENT, October 6, 2005
It’s back to school time, but are Oregon’s kids really ready?
In Columbia County, more
than 50 percent of three- and
four-year-olds living in poverty
can’t get into Oregon’s public
pre-Kindergarten program be-
cause there isn’t enough room.
And overall in Oregon, only 41
percent of preschool-aged chil-
dren are enrolled in a pre-K
program, public or private. Yet
studies universally show that a
quality preschool experience
makes all the difference in fu-
ture productivity and learning.
In fact, according to educa-
tors and local statistics, there is
a direct correlation to children
arriving at kindergarten unpre-
pared and future poor academ-
ic performance in school. Fur-
ther still, more and more stud-
ies demonstrate that not just
any pre-K will do; a quality pre-
school setting that addresses
children’s social and emotional
development, motor skills, cog-
nitive skills and overall health
is crucial to development.
“Ready for School,” a group
of business leaders, philanthro-
pists and children’s advocates,
has started a statewide dia-
logue about this issue.
According to Swati Adarkar,
executive director of The Chil-
dren’s Institute an independent
nonprofit research and action
group and one of the children’s
groups that is part of the Ready
for School initiative — Oregon
students who start behind aca-
demically tend to stay behind,
which often leads to negative
and expensive outcomes.
“The benefits of early child-
hood education are overwhelm-
ing. When kids show up for
kindergarten and haven’t had
the benefit of preschool learn-
ing, it creates a domino effect.
A recent study of disadvan-
taged children showed that
those who don’t participate in
quality pre-K programs have
significantly lower achievement
scores, are less likely to gradu-
ate from high school, are less
likely to be employed adults
and are much more likely to be
arrested,” said Adarkar. “The
link is very strong, and the im-
plications are critical for us to
understand.”
Adarkar adds that third
grade reading levels are a
widely accepted predictor of
long-term school success, yet
in 2004, 18 percent of Oregon’s
third graders were not reading
at their grade level. “And unfor-
tunately, data shows that a stu-
dent who is not a modestly
skilled reader by the end of the
third grade is far more likely to
not graduate from high school,”
said Adarkar.
Furthermore, Adarkar cites
that 90 percent of brain devel-
opment occurs in children by
age six, so those who go with-
out early childhood education
miss the opportunity for critical
cognitive development and
struggle to catch up.
Because of all these early
childhood education realities in
Oregon, The Children’s Insti-
tute has teamed with business
leaders, childhood develop-
ment experts, children’s advo-
cates, philanthropists and edu-
cators to form Ready for
School, a consortium that is
working to raise public aware-
ness of the importance of
kindergarten preparedness and
enrolling more of Oregon’s chil-
dren in high quality pre-K edu-
cational programs.
“For many years, the educa-
tion debate in Oregon has cen-
tered on school funding for K
through 12. While this is an im-
portant debate, we are missing
an opportunity to make an in-
vestment where it will count the
most,” said Richard Alexander,
chair of Ready For School.
“The financial benefits of
school preparedness make it
hard to find a better investment
for Oregon, as studies show
that, among disadvantaged
children, there is a nearly $13
return for $1 invested in a qual-
ity preschool program. This re-
turn is money saved on future
public expenditures like special
education, welfare and crime.
And among all children, there is
still a very significant estimated
4-to-1 return on investment.”
In the months ahead, Ready
for School will be presenting
nearly two years worth of re-
search with additional study re-
sults, proposed solutions, and
information and tips for parents
and educators.
Until then, The Children’s In-
stitute has created an issue
brief available to the public en-
titled “Early Childhood Devel-
opment: Investing in Oregon’s
Economic Future” which con-
tains background information
and statistics on pre-K educa-
tion, and is available for down-
load at <www.childinst.org>.
Ready for School is a group
of business leaders, philanthro-
pists and children’s advocates
working to address issues re-
lated to school readiness in
Oregon. For more information
about this initiative, contact
Swati Adarkar at 503-595-
0621.
Columbia County Fair 4-H results show talent of children involved
Following are partial results
from the 4-H competition at the
Columbia County Fair. Due to
space limitations, only results
within The Independent’s circu-
lation area are included. More
results will be published in the
October 20 issue of The Inde-
pendent .
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Gaming, Pole Bending, Se-
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White Award – Torie Clement,
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