March 4, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--Remember when everyone was asking why Johnny can't read? Too many Johnnys still can't read although research done at the University of Oregon College of Education now shows why--and what to do about it. Successful reading programs represent just a part of dozens of programs developed by UO education college researchers--programs that have established national standards for solving many problems plaguing American schools today. Research topics range from preventing violence on the playground to improving classroom performance. U.S. News & World Report recently rated the UO College of Education No. 1 in a national ranking of university education research programs. UO College of Education Dean Martin J. Kaufman says there are good reasons why U.S. News & World Report has recognized the extraordinary quality of the UO's $18-million-a-year research program. "Our research goes far beyond the theoretical," says Kaufman. "We work with school districts around the country to field test our curricula. We can assure educators and school boards that the programs created here work--they are both effective and practical," he says. Take, for example, Professor Edward J. Kameenui's studies of why so many American kids can't read. "There's a pitched battle going on between the advocates of phonics and whole language," he says. "Both sides claim their approach is the only way. But we found that balance is the key. All kids need to have some understanding of how the alphabet code works in order to decypher written language. Some kids come to school already knowing the basics, some don't. We have to teach kids at both ends of the spectrum. That's where the balance comes in." Balance is of less concern than achievement to UO researchers Siegfried Engelmann and Douglas Carnine, who have earned national reputations for the development and support of a program known as Direct Instruction. That curriculum is focused on reinforcing the basics in reading, math and science. Direct Instruction has produced spectacular results in schools in Oregon, Chicago and Texas. In addition to proven academic programs, schools also need solid and workable discipline, according to UO professor Robert H. Horner who, along with colleagues George Sugai, Ann Todd and Jeff Sprague, developed the Effective Behavioral Support (EBS) system now in use in 50 schools in Oregon. Schools in Hawaii, Missouri and British Columbia also use EBS. "Most school districts still are using the old standard approach to discipline--pull problem kids out of the classroom, send them to detention and then expel them when that doesn`t do the job. It doesn't work," he explains. EBS is a school-wide approach to discipline that has turned things around in schools from rural Lane county to the Portland metro area. Fern Ridge School District in Lane County, for example, has experienced more than a 50 percent reduction in disciplinary referrals under the EBS program. UO research on youth violence doesn't stop though at controlling discipline problems in school. The UO Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior has developed programs that successfully prevent youth from choosing violence before the destructive behavior begins. Nationally recognized youth violence prevention expert Hill Walker and his colleagues at the institute are perfecting programs that can identify potentially violent children before they enroll in kindergarten or first grade. The First Steps Program, which was designed at the UO, works with potentially violent children, their parents and their teachers to help children learn non-violent ways to solve problems. "If you can catch them really early," Walker says, "you can actually stop the problem cold. If you wait until they are nine or 10 years old, all you can do is work on containment." "First Steps, EBS and Direct Instruction, like all of our research-based curricula, have been tested and developed in real classrooms," says Kaufman. "The UO College of Education doesn't work in an ivory tower. As a result, researchers at the UO College of Education are pushing the frontiers in educational innovation." -30- #F-6060/GE,HE