Past Engagement
Beginning in 2022, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and Early Learning Division (ELD) worked with Oregon’s Kitchen Table (OKT) to conduct a multi-year community engagement process to hear from families, educators, early learning partners and programs, and culturally specific community-based organizations to gather feedback about Oregon's new approach to welcoming children into kindergarten through the "Family Conversation," one component of the new Early Learning Transition Check-In ODE and DELC have been working with communities to develop.
Read the Oregon's Kitchen Table reports from the different community engagement activities in 2022, 2023, and 2024 below.
In response to feedback and recommendations from the community conversations, and following input from their advisory panel, ODE and DELC developed priorities for 2023 and 2025 to shape the development of the "Family Conversation". These documents show how people's input from these community engagement activities was used.
2022
In fall 2022, ODE and DELC worked with Oregon’s Kitchen Table (OKT) to conduct a community engagement process to hear from families and educators who participated in “family interviews,” a pilot approach to support students’ transitions into kindergarten. OKT designed and hosted “community conversations” with people who had been part of the ODE family interviews in 2022. The goal of the community conversations conducted by OKT was: 1) to hear what people’s experiences in the family interviews were like, 2) to hear what ideas people had for future family interviews, and 3) to understand how families and educators think the process might work better for families and schools in coming years.
2023
In fall 2023, ODE and DELC worked with OKT to again hear from families and educators who participated in the 2022 "Family Conversation" at over 30 schools and districts across Oregon. The goal of the community conversations conducted by OKT was: 1) to hear what people’s experiences in the family interviews were like, 2) to hear what ideas people had for future family interviews, 3) to understand how families and educators think the process might work better for families and schools in coming years, 4) and to hear from schools who participated the previous year about the changes made for 2023.
2024
In 2024 OKT designed and hosted listening sessions and interviews with people who work for early learning partners and programs and culturally specific community based organizations that support families with young children. The goal of the listening sessions was: 1) to hear how the Family Conversation might be most helpful for partners in their work; 2) to hear about people’s experiences in supporting families to navigate early learning and kindergarten transitions; 3) to better understand how early learning partners, community-based organizations, and culturally specific partners approach family engagement; and 4) to identify opportunities for early learning partners, community groups, culturally specific organizations, and ODE and DELC to work together regionally or on a statewide level to better understand what is happening with early learning around the state.