Thousands of educators meet in Anaheim for NAEYC’s Annual Conference, world’s largest gathering of early childhood educators

The leading voices of early childhood education meet for one of the best networking and professional development experiences available to professionals who work with children birth through age 8

If you are a member of the media and plan on attending the Conference, please email kcampbell@naeyc.org for press access.

(Anaheim, Calif.) – The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) continues to champion the relationship between research, policy, and practice in support of ensuring excellence and effectiveness in the field of early childhood education. Educators, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and other experts will gather at NAEYC’s Annual Conference & Expo next month for what has become an invaluable professional development experience for thousands.

Conference presenters and attendees represent all levels of professionals in early childhood education. The Annual Conference & Expo presents a unique opportunity for dedicated professionals to network, problem solve, and advance a broad range of issues and challenges–from implementing new curriculum standards to using developmentally appropriate practices for cognitive, social, and emotional development to advancing child development research.

We invite journalists from California and around the country to speak to professionals, who work each day on behalf of young children toward preventing the achievement gap, preventing high school dropout, and ensuring that we nurture the next generation of leaders.

“We are honored to be hosting the 2010 Conference in California,” said Jerlean Daniel, Executive Director of NAEYC. “Our attendees include thousands of unsung heroes, who work on behalf of young children and their families every day. The work of these professionals makes a real difference. For many educators, this conference is one of the few opportunities they have to network and learn from experts across the developmental spectrum of early childhood education.”

This year’s conference offers a unique collaboration between NAEYC’s annual meeting, the world’s largest gathering of early childhood educators, and the Washington, D.C.-based National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI). The collaboration with NBCDI extends the session offerings to include later elementary grades through adolescence, as well as the child welfare field.

Major highlights at the 2010 Annual Conference & Expo will be opening keynote speakers T. Berry Brazelton M.D., pioneer of pediatrics and child development, and Joshua Sparrow, M.D., of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center in Boston. Dr. Brazelton’s concept of “Touchpoints” represents opportunities for educators and clinicians to help parents and children understand predictable phases of development.

Other notable sessions and highlights include

• Combating childhood obesity: Risks, prevention, and intervention/Geraldine Henchy, Food and Research Action Center; Dianne Ward, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Jim Sallis, San Diego State University
• President’s Seminar: Advancing Quality For All Children/Stephanie Fanjul, President of NAEYC, Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, Director of the Office of Head Start; Shannon Rudisill, Associate Director of the Child Care Bureau; and Melody Musgrove, Director of the Office of Special Education Programs
• All-day kindergarten all grown up: The changing dynamics of teaching, learning, and family involvement/Dominic Gullo, Drexel University; Patricia Clark, Ball State University; Doris Fromberg and Linda Davey, Hofstra University; Gayle Mindes, DePaul University; Sherry Copeland, New York City Board of Education
• Educating and empowering children and families: Our children, our future/NBCDI keynote speaker Holly Robinson Peete, actress, author, activist, and philanthropist, has worked on behalf of children with autism and their families.
• Response to Intervention: A model for developing, implementing, and measuring academic and behavioral interventions for grades 1 through 3/Thomas Knestrict, Xavier University
• Meet the authors and illustrators: Children’s literature at NAEYC/Holly Seplocha, William Paterson University; Patricia Polacco, Penguin; Keith Baker, Simon and Schuster
• The bully, the victim, and the bystander: Understanding the role of each in bullying/Marian Marion and Jeannine Klomes, Governor's State University
• Increasing preservice teachers’ knowledge of child and adolescent development and learning/Samuel Meisels, Erikson Institute; James P. Comer, Yale University Child Study Center; Jon Snyder, Bank Street College of Education; Randy Hitz, Portland State University; James Cibulka, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
• Why I never grew up/Closing speaker Derek Anderson, award-winning author and illustrator, will take you into the studio and his imagination for a behind-the-scenes look at creating picture books for children.
• New Child Welfare track – Search online for new sessions about child abuse and neglect, foster care and adoption, and parental rights/reunification.
• NAEYC’s Accreditation 25th Anniversary Celebration– NAEYC has set the highest standards for quality early childhood education since 1985 when the early childhood program accreditation system was first created. Check www.naeyc.org/academy/anniversary for more details and to hear stories from the field.

The NAEYC Exhibit Hall will also be open Nov. 3-6 featuring more than 1,000 early childhood related vendors. The Conference is also made possible in part through the generous support of our sponsors: Teaching Strategies, Inc., Hatch, Target, Walden University, HighScope, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Kaplan, PreschoolFirst, Community Playthings, Discount School Supply, Erikson, Stonyfield Farm, Bright Horizons, Corwin, Pearson, Child Care Marketplace, Clorox, and California University of Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit www.naeyc.org/conference.

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