The Early Education Leader''s Guide: Program Leadership and Professional Learning for the 21st Century

About Annie ConnorsNonie K. LesauxRobin KaneStephanie M. Jones

Nonie K. Lesaux PhD is the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her developmental and experimental research on school-age children and youth investigates language reading and socialemotional development; classroom quality and academic growth; and strategies for accelerating language and reading comprehension. With Stephanie M. Jones Dr. Lesaux is also codirector of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and coprincipal investigator of the Early Learning Study at Harvard. She is a recipient of the William T. Grant Scholars Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Lesaux has served on the Institute of Medicine and National Research Councils Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8. Stephanie M. Jones PhD is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Child Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she also serves as Director of the Ecological Approaches to Social and Emotional Learning Lab. Dr. Joness research focuses on the effects of poverty and exposure to violence on children's social emotional and behavioral development. Her recent work addresses the impact of preschool- and elementary-level social and emotional learning interventions on behavioral and academic outcomes and classroom practices as well as new curriculum development implementation and testing. With Nonie K. Lesaux Dr. Jones is codirector of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative and coprincipal investigator of the Early Learning Study at Harvard. She recently served as a member of the Council of Distinguished Scientists for the Aspen National Commission on Social Emotional and Academic Development. Annie Connors MEd is a practitioner with over a decade of primary teaching experience in public schools. A literacy specialist and reading coach in the Greater Boston area specializing in providing direct instruction to students and professional development for educators Ms. Connors has served as a literacy consultant to education publishers and research groups on a variety of programs and initiatives. Robin Kane is Assistant Director of Professional Institutes and Partnerships at the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She provides professional development training and coaching to novice and experienced early educators. Most recently she has worked on the development of early literacy curricula and interventions for an urban school district and the design and implementation of innovative professional development programs for early education leaders. Ms. Kane founded a child development center in 1991 where she taught children and mentored teachers for over 23 years.