Speaker Bios

Opening Address

Continuity and Change: HighScope's Legacy
and Leadership Moving Forward

Sue Bredekamp, Ph.D.
Dr. Sue Bredekamp is an early childhood education specialist from Washington, DC who serves as a consultant and author on curriculum, teaching, and professional development for state and national organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Council for Professional Recognition, the Head Start Bureau, and Sesame Workshop. From 1981 to 1998, she was Director of Accreditation and Professional Development for NAEYC where she developed and directed a national accreditation system for early childhood centers and schools. She is the primary author of NAEYC’s highly-influential publication, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, the 1987 and 1997 editions, and co-editor of the 2009 revision. Dr. Bredekamp is an advisor to the Head Start National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning. From 2007 to 2009, she was a member of the National Research Council’s (NRC) Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics which produced a landmark report, Mathematics in Early Childhood: Paths toward Excellence and Equity. She also co-authored Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children, the joint position statement of the International Reading Association and NAEYC. In addition, she wrote NAEYC’s position statements on technology and young children; violence in the lives of children; curriculum and assessment guidelines; standards for teacher education at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate level, and oversaw production of training videos. She was a consultant for RISE Learning Solutions, producer of distance learning programs for early childhood professional development, and the content developer and on-air faculty for HeadsUp! Reading, a live satellite television course on early literacy disseminated by NHSA. Dr. Bredekamp is a frequent keynote speaker and author of numerous books and articles related to standards for professional practice, teacher education and professional development. She has been a visiting lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia; Monash University in Melbourne; University of Alaska; and University of Hawaii. Dr. Bredekamp holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland.

Keynote Speaker

"How the HighScope Perry Preschool Study Continues to Inform Research and Evaluation"

W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D.
W. Steven Barnett is Board of Governors Professor of Education and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. His research includes studies of the economics of early care and education including costs and benefits, the long-term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities. Dr. Barnett earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan. He began his career studying early childhood programs by working on the age 19 follow-up of the HighScope Perry Preschool program.