Submitted by the DuPage Children's Museum
A national leader in promoting the importance of early childhood education, DuPage Children’s Museum (DCM) recently coordinated the development of an exciting and important new initiative: the Early Learning Research in Action Council (ELRAC). The Council will actively connect DCM to important research and advocacy networks, will take part in online discussions with the public and will work to further research on informal learning experiences at the Museum and beyond.
The first meeting of the Council took place at DCM on Thursday, February 2 and was attended by nationally known researchers in the field of early learning along with local experts, community partners and Museum leaders. Drs. Roberta Golinkoff (School of Education, University of Delaware) and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Department of Psychology, Temple University), co-authors of the highly regarded Einstein Never Used Flashcards (2004, Rodale Books), contributed to a lively and highly productive conversation concerning the newly developed group’s goals and initiatives. Several projects that would further connect the Museum to leading educational research institutions were proposed. Additional support of DCM’s online content and the development of a Museum-sponsored Early Learning Summit were just two of the ideas to come out of the Council’s first meeting. Video excerpts from the meeting can be viewed by visiting the “What’s New” page atwww.dupagechildrensmuseum.org.
“Many of us are concerned with what’s going on in the state of education today… in children’s museums I think you have the secret answer,” said Dr. Hirsh-Pasek. “We can learn a tremendous amount by working with museum people about how to have a better state of education across the country.”
The development of the Early Learning Research in Action Council is an important part of DCM’s commitment to extending its influence beyond the institution’s walls as a community partner and leader in public education; a true entrepreneur in early education and a strong force for early learning.
Early Learning Research in Action Council Members:
- Lenore Johnson, Council Chair. DuPage Children's Museum Board Member; Retired, Former Associate Superintendent for Instruction, Naperville District 203
- Angela Andrews, M.Ed., Retired Professor of Mathematics Education, National-LouisUniversity, Aunty Math Online
- Lorrie Beaumont, Ed.D., Director, Evergreene Research and Evaluation
- Louise Beem, DuPage Children’s Museum Co-founder, DCM Board of Directors Trustee Emerita
- Susan Broad, President and CEO, DuPage Children’s Museum
- Renae Brooks, Retired Teacher, Recipient of the 2008 Kohl/McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award
- Lindsay Cochrane, Program Officer for Education, McCormick Foundation
- Roberta Golinkoff, Ph.D., School of Education, University of Delaware
- Cynthia Heidorn, Ed.D., Superintendent, Mundelein School District
- Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Temple University
- Judith S. Lederman, Ph.D., Director of Teacher Education, Illinois Institute of Technology
- Norman G. Lederman, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Illinois Institute of Technology
- Cynthia Mark-Hummel, Director of Early Learning Research and Education, DuPage Children’s Museum
- Ron McDaniel, DuPage Children's Museum Board Member; President, Western-Cullen-Hayes. Inc.
- Nicole Rivera, Ed.D., MT-BC, Department of Psychology, North Central College
- Patricia Schacht, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, North Central College