Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest supports the Oregon Department of Education in helping K-5 schools implement evidence-based literacy practices to improve student literacy achievement. To achieve this goal, the partnership leverages coaching and technical assistance across related projects to increase knowledge, evaluate implementation, and share information about the use of evidence-based literacy practices in local education agencies in Oregon.
Partnership organization: Oregon Department of Education
Current projects
In this 2026 project, REL Northwest provides technical support to the Oregon Department of Education in reviewing the current guidance for supporting multilingual learners and its alignment to evidence-based practices for literacy instruction in Oregon’s Early Literacy Framework. The project informs the state department’s revision and enhancement of the Framework to more explicitly support multilingual learners and to create additional guidance for districts and schools. This work is part of the REL Northwest Oregon Literacy partnership, which bridges evidence and practice and strengthens coherence between state guidance and local implementation of evidence-based literacy practices across Oregon.
Completed projects
REL Northwest supported the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) by ensuring its new state literacy framework (released May 31, 2023) included the most recent evidence on literacy instruction and insights from literacy leaders. Additionally, per ODE’s request, REL Northwest ensured the evidence and insights were easy to comprehend for stakeholders to help drive improved literacy instruction and increased student reading achievement across the state.
In this 2024 and 2025 project, REL Northwest created a suite of resources focused on collecting and analyzing qualitative community engagement data. The resources include illustrative examples, templates, and tips sheets to support planning, collecting, and analyzing data related to community engagement activities that inform education policy, programs, and practices. REL Northwest trained Oregon Department of Education staff to use the community engagement data resources as part of the REL Northwest Oregon Literacy partnership, as they used community engagement to strengthen coherence of state guidance on literacy practices.
For the Oregon Department of Education Literacy Initiative Partnership, REL Northwest and Oregon Department of Education collaborated using continuous improvement and dissemination approaches to support Oregon educators’ increased knowledge and use of evidence-based literacy practices. In this 2023/24 project, REL Northwest provided technical support to the Oregon Department of Education as it evaluates and supports the use of evidence-based practices in schools that received Early Literacy Success School District Grants.
In this 2026 project, REL Northwest provided coaching and technical support as the Oregon Department of Education redesigned the data collection and analyses processes to support adoption and use of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) for literacy. The project supported the state in creating a process to analyze HQIM data and generate actionable insights to continuously improve early literacy HQIM use and collaboration among districts statewide. This work is part of the REL Northwest Oregon Literacy partnership, which bridges evidence and practice and strengthens coherence between state guidance and local implementation of evidence-based literacy practices across Oregon.