OPSR was created to help Oklahoma families access the early care and education, family support, and health and mental health services they need to support their children during their most critical period of development from birth through age five. OPSR facilitates collaborative planning and decision making to increase coordination between programs, to maximize the use of public and private funding, and to pursue policies that improve learning opportunities and environments for Oklahoma’s children.
The Clearinghouse promotes well-being for Oklahoma children and their families by building an evolving definition of quality, fast-tracking innovation, implementing research-informed practice and practice-informed research to support and improve early childhood systems and maximizing public/private partnerships.
The Pyramid Model promotes the skills necessary for young children, birth to age five, to understand and manage their emotions as well as addresses disparities in discipline practices, promotes family engagement and fosters inclusion of children with, and at risk for, developmental delays and disabilities.
In response to COVID-19, OPSR and over 40 early childhood stakeholders developed seven recommendations for our state to ensure equitable access to early childhood care and education (ECCE) for Oklahoma children.
By sharing information, an Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) can answer key questions that help parents, teachers, providers and decision-makers be better equipped to support child wellbeing.
Project HOPE (Harnessing Opportunity for Positive, Equitable Early Childhood Development) is designed to generate real progress toward equitable outcomes for young children and their families.
The Oklahoma School Readiness Pathway is a compi.lation of benchmarks, goals, outcomes and indicators that illustrate how Health, Early Care & Learning and Family Support influence a child’s readiness for school.
The Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR) is thrilled to announce the receipt of $500,000 from private philanthropy in support of the Oklahoma Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Success, a statewide program focused on elevating best practices in early childhood development.
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The Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR) Foundation board has named Carrie Williams as the organization’s new executive director. Williams joined OPSR as chief operating officer in May and has been working alongside interim executive director Dr. Amy Emerson to ensure Oklahoma’s early childhood system remains strong, cohesive and vigilant against pandemic challenges. Dr. Emerson was named interim executive director in February following Debra Andersen’s almost 11-year tenure as executive director.
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The Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR) is pleased to name Dr. Amy Emerson as its interim director. Dr. Emerson currently works as a senior advisor to Early Learning Works by Tulsa Educare as well as in the private sector as a physician and small business owner.
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Oklahoma’s top early childhood advocacy group and the state’s only early childhood research institute are partnering to offer a new, multi-session conference to highlight early childhood research, initiatives, and policy.
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The Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR) is pleased to share “Estimating the Cost of Quality Early Childhood Care & Education in Oklahoma” by Lynn A. Karoly and Stephanie J. Walsh with the RAND Corporation. During the pandemic, providers have been forced to operate at a reduced capacity and families have struggled to find affordable care, pushing our early childhood system to the breaking point. This study’s data on the financial impact of low enrollment sheds light on why it has been difficult for providers to stay in business during the pandemic and offers possible solutions for the future.
Learn MorePart of our responsibility as an organization is to present an annual report to the Governor of Oklahoma and the state legislature, so that early childhood stakeholders can better understand both the opportunities and barriers to school success that children and their families may face from birth to the time they enter school.