The Hosts

 Jerlean Daniel

Dr. Jerlean Daniel is Executive Director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s largest organization of early childhood education professionals working with and on behalf of children from birth through age eight. Prior to joining the NAEYC staff, Dr. Daniel served as Chair of Psychology in Education, and Associate Professor in the Applied Developmental Psychology Program, in the School of Education, after serving as Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. She was On-Air Faculty for “Heads Up! Reading,” an early literacy project sponsored by the National Head Start Association and the Council for Professional Recognition. Dr. Daniel was a child care center director for 18 years. During that time, she served at various times as a board member, Secretary, and President of the Pennsylvania Association of Child Care Agencies; President of the Pittsburgh AEYC; and Governing Board member and President of NAEYC. Dr. Daniel holds a B.S. in Political Science, an M.S. in Child Development, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pittsburgh.

Rae Pica

Rae Pica has been a children’s physical activity specialist for 27 years. A former adjunct instructor with the University of New Hampshire, she is the author of 17 books, including the text Experiences in Movement, the award-winning Great Games for Young Children and Jump into Literacy, and A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity, and Free Time Create a Successful Child, written for the parents of children birth to eight. Rae is known for her lively and informative workshop and keynote presentations and has shared her expertise with such groups as the Sesame Street Research Department, the Head Start Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues, Gymboree, and state health departments throughout the country. Rae also served on the task force of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) that created national guidelines for early childhood physical activity.

Former host:

Mark Ginsberg, Ph.D

Mark Ginsberg is the former Executive Director of NAEYC.  Mark is now the Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Prior to joining NAEYC, Mark served as the Chair of the Department of Counseling and Human Services in the Graduate Division of Education at The Johns Hopkins University. He also is a member of the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Medicine of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his master’s degree and his doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, after having been awarded a bachelors degree in Psychology from the State University of New York, College at Cortland.