 2007 Early Childhood Summit
Thank you for taking part in the second annual Tennessee Early Childhood Summit. We hope you returned home re-energized and with fresh ideas, new contacts, and a strengthened knowledge that you - along with hundreds of educators across the state - are making a lasting difference in the lives of Tennessee's children every day.
The news release from the conference is below. You can also view photos from the conference here.
We hope to see you again next year!
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Tennessee Alliance for Early Education Hosts State's Second Annual Early Childhood Summit
Major focus on collaborative partnership strategies for pre-K funding
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - More than 650 stakeholders in the state's pre-K initiative convened at the Sheraton Music City on May 3 and 4 to support the expanded implementation of high-quality pre-kindergarten in Tennessee.
The two-day conference, 2007 Early Childhood Summit: The Power of Collaboration, was hosted by the Tennessee Alliance for Early Education, in conjunction with the Tennessee Department of Education's Office of Early Learning, Washington, D.C.-based Pre-K Now and the Tennessee Head Start State Collaboration Office. It focused on collaboration among pre-K providers, businesses, communities and other organizations to advance the voluntary pre-K initiative in Tennessee. In addition, educators had an opportunity to view curricula aligned with the Tennessee Early Learning Development Standards at a curriculum fair.
We have more people than ever before interested in pre-K and more opportunities to get children involved, said Diane Neighbors, Ed.D., Tennessee Alliance for Early Education chair. In its second year, the conference has given stakeholders the opportunity to network and learn how we can provide high-quality pre-K for Tennessee's children.
Keynote speakers for the 2007 Early Childhood Summit were Dr. Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, and Dr. W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research. Levitt addressed the different factors that influence a child's brain development. Barnett spoke about the evidence behind the claim that pre-K education is a sound investment. Sara Watson, Ph.D., state policy initiatives senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, described the growing movement for quality pre-kindergarten across the country and the role The Pew Charitable Trusts has played in advancing policies to ensure every child has access to a quality early education.
Administrators, supervisors and teachers from the various arenas of early childhood education including public schools, Head Start, Even Start and child care were invited to attend, as were other stakeholders in the pre-K initiative.
In 2006, the Tennessee Alliance for Early Education hosted the state's first early childhood summit on the heels of the first major expansion of Tennessee's pre-K program. More than 600 pre-K stakeholders from across the state took part in last year's conference.
With the program's expansion over the last two years, and the state's emphasis on high-quality standards, Tennessee's pre-K program has quickly become a national model. In March 2007, the National Institute for Early Education ranked Tennessee's program among the top eight in the nation.
The conference offered activities in a variety of workshops, focusing on topics such as collaboration as a major implementation method for pre-K, parent engagement, behavior management, classroom environments, language and brain development, social and emotional development, mentoring, nutrition, working with English Language Learners and autism.
The Tennessee Alliance for Early Education was established in 2005 to support Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposal to expand the state's existing pre-kindergarten education program, and is now working to support Gov. Bredesen in the 2007 legislative session as he aims to again raise the bar for early education in Tennessee. More than 350 individuals and organizations are members of the Alliance. ###
View the 2007 Tennessee Early Childhood Summit program here. If you'd like to be on our mailing list for next year's conference, please e-mail prekalliance@mpf.com (subject line "2008 conference").
Click here to view television coverage of the 2006 Early Education Childhood Summit: Collaboration Conference and Curriculum Fair. |
