Insights

Building a Stronger Case for Expanded Learning in Oregon

Across state education agencies, powerful work is happening in pockets, spread across grant programs, teams, and initiatives that don’t always have the chance to connect. As the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) works to strengthen summer and expanded learning opportunities statewide, leaders have been intentional about not only growing those programs, but also building the infrastructure, alignment, and capacity needed to sustain them over time. To help move this vision forward, ODE partnered with the Northwest Comprehensive Center (NWCC).

Telling a Coherent Story for Impact and Sustainability

From the beginning, this work was grounded in a simple but powerful idea: policy and funding decisions are strongest when they are guided by evidence and shaped by the lived realities of people doing the actual work.

Across ODE, multiple grant programs have supported summer and expanded learning. While these investments were generating meaningful outcomes for students and families, leaders recognized a critical need: to tell a clear, unified story about what these programs are doing, what outcomes they are producing, and why continued investment matters.

This storytelling was not just about communicating impact; it was about supporting sustainability. With a legislative session approaching, ODE needed a way to translate data and practitioner experience into a compelling narrative that could build the case for long-term funding and alignment.

Advancing the Work Through Collaboration

The partnership between ODE and NWCC centered on listening first. We focused on understanding ODE’s goals, timelines, and capacity needs, while providing targeted support to help the agency do what it ultimately wanted to do for itself: tell a clear, compelling story about expanded learning impact. Together, the team co-developed two data briefs highlighting outcomes from ODE’s summer learning programs.

NWCC focused on building ODE’s internal capacity. This included these main activities:

• Identifying and analyzing existing data across grant programs
• Surfacing key findings tied to outcomes and impact
• Developing a clear, shared storyline grounded in evidence, ensuring ODE ownership at every step

“Working alongside the Northwest Comprehensive Center allowed us to move beyond silos and toward a shared vision for expanded learning in Oregon. Together, we developed tools that not only supported an immediate legislative need, but also built a foundation for long-term sustainability, alignment, and stronger connections between policy and practice.”

A Foundation for What Comes Next

This effort demonstrated what’s possible when storytelling, data, and capacity building come together:

• Stronger internal coherence across programs
• Clearer communication with policymakers
• Better foundation for long-term sustainability through funding and policy
• A stronger foundation for ODE to lead future storytelling efforts

By centering practitioner voices, building ownership, and meeting the moment with timely, evidence-based communication, ODE took a meaningful step toward a more unified and sustainable future for summer and expanded learning in Oregon.