Document Type
Portfolio
Publication Date
Winter 1-28-2026
Abstract
Goal Statement
The goal of this Social Change Portfolio is to promote healthier developmental outcomes for young children in our rural community by increasing access to early childhood readiness supports that prevent social-emotional and behavioral difficulties in kindergarten.
Significant Findings
Early childhood school readiness is a significant public health and mental health concern in the rural coastal community of Lincoln County, Oregon. A large number of children enter kindergarten without any school readiness, whether it was in a formal preschool or just done at home. This can be due to many factors, including socioeconomic disparities, such as high poverty rates, food insecurity, limited childcare availability, limited knowledge of school readiness, and geographic isolation. Approximately 32.8% of children under age six in this region live below the federal poverty level, and fewer than half of 3- to 4-year-olds are enrolled in structured preschool programs (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, 2018; Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton & Lincoln Counties, 2023). These barriers contribute to delayed social-emotional development, self-regulation, and behavioral skills. Skills that are needed for a successful adjustment to the school environment. As a result, children may experience increased frustration, behavioral challenges, and difficulty engaging in learning. Low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) Hispanic families face additional systemic barriers, including language differences and a lack of culturally responsive outreach, which further hinders school readiness (Bumgarner & Lin, 2014). At the same time, schools face increased demands on instructional time and on mental health supports due to these disparities. Addressing early childhood readiness through preventive, culturally responsive, and multi-level interventions is needed to promote equitable educational outcomes. Implementing culturally responsive education programs, such as the Preparing Young Children for School program (Institute of Education Sciences, n.d.), can help the community ensure that all children are school-ready.
Objectives/Strategies/Interventions/Next Steps
Next steps and interventions are critical to the success of any project, as they ensure the continuation of the work beyond the research and writing phases. In moving from theory to practice, clearly defined next steps and interventions support the application of findings and increase the likelihood of meaningful outcomes. The following are the next steps and interventions that would make it plausible to educate parents about kindergarten school readiness. To begin, partnering with local Head Start programs to provide parent education programming would be beneficial. In addition, collaboration with local libraries, tribal centers, health clinics, and churches to develop school-readiness kits that provide activities and ideas for school readiness, such as small-motor activities, games with delayed gratification, and social-emotional skills, reinforces connections between schools and the broader community. Supporting Hispanic low-SES marginalized communities through the development of a bilingual program for parental education will not only benefit children but also help build trusting relationships with the educational community. In many cases, low-SES families have limited internet access, rely solely on mobile devices, and may not regularly engage with school social media platforms. As a result, parents of preschool-aged children may be unaware that schools use these platforms to disseminate information. An intentional digital and print media campaign that informs families about resources for school readiness. The information must be presented to as many people as possible, in as many forms as possible, to enable informed decision-making. Finally, advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels for affordable preschool programs in high-poverty rural communities is necessary.
