Consider the way Betsy Hammond of The Oregonian told the story of how one state is attempting to help young children with developmental delays. Hammond visited a center that operates seven preschool classes for students and described how teachers encourage a 3-year-old named Luca to use his words: They place items he loves both out of reach and out of sight until he asks for them.

Here is an excerpt from the story:

"Bubbles," he [Luca] requests of speech pathologist Nancy Turner, who retrieves a jar of bubble soap she had set at the end of his table. "Blow," he says, then reacts with delight as she does, sending tiny bubbles flying all around him.

This description allowed readers to truly understand the strategies Oregon is developing in a state where the number of children with developmental delays has gone up. If problems aren't dealt with early, these children will have far more academic difficulty once they arrive in kindergarten.

Oregon, Hammond notes, has lagged in identifying and helping the number of children under the age of three who get special education services. Her story did an excellent job of focusing one state's efforts to solve this, with the help of the Oregon Pediatric Society. The group, according to the story, trained doctors and nurses in how to screen for developmental delays and how to refer them to get the kind of help that is turning around Luca's life and getting him ready for school.

EarlyStories finds it refreshing to see education journalism that goes beyond simply telling a story. This story also shows readers what kinds of solutions work.