Hill Walker has been a part of ORI for the past two decades. His main research focuses on young children (preschool to middle school) having challenging behavior in the context of schooling. Walker and colleagues have developed universal screening systems and early intervention strategies to enable prevention of school failure, dropout, and negative developmental outcomes in adolescence. The Oregon School Research Group comprises researchers from ORI, the University of Oregon and the University of Missouri. Walker and colleagues have been successful in securing federal funding to continue the development of the First Step to Success early intervention for children in preschool to grade 3 and to support a range of related projects related to child social and emotional health. Walker’s current work involves development of a Tier 1, universal intervention of First Step for adoption and use by preschool settings and educators.

In addition, Walker continues to develop articles and chapters on past work to further enhance the literature in early intervention for behaviorally at-risk children. Walker is a recipient of the 2020 Mental Health Research Award from the School Mental Health Research Center located in the School of Medicine at Ohio University and a recipient of the Kauffman-Hallahan Distinguished Research Award for 2012.