SALT LAKE CITY, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Just a few months after President Barack Obama reaffirmed his major initiative to expand preschool in his State of the Union address, Utahns have the chance to hear from the U.S. Education Department's top early education official at a free town hall event.
Dr. Libby Doggett, deputy assistant secretary of policy and early learning at the U.S. Department of Education, will present "High Tech Tots: Opportunities and Challenges" Tuesday, April 1 at 4:15 p.m. at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center downtown. Her presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with other early learning experts and an open Q&A session.
Doggett's talk is sponsored by Waterford Institute, a nonprofit educational product and research company based in Salt Lake City, UT. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited, so attendees will need to pre-register online to get a ticket.
Touch screens, mobile devices and other media are impacting families and early educators, Doggett says. Her talk will cover questions like "How are parents and teachers responding?" and "What types of research and policies are needed to undergird the use of electronic media with our youngest children?" Doggett, who holds a doctorate from the University of Texas in early childhood special education, says we need to ensure the education technology revolution lifts all children and doesn't increase the country's economic divide.
A Texas native, Doggett was appointed to her current role in late August 2013, making her the second person to hold the post created by Obama in November 2011. Her number one priority has been working on the President's early education initiative, which, in part, aims to provide all low- and moderate-income 4-year-old children with high-quality preschool, while also expanding these programs to reach additional children from middle class families and incentivizing full-day kindergarten policies.
Doggett began her career in the classroom as a first grade teacher in Austin. She has since worked with the National Head Start Association and directed Pre-K Now, a 10-year campaign to advance high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three- and four-year-olds in states across the country. Just prior to her federal appointment, she led The Pew Charitable Trust's campaign to expand home visiting programs for expectant mothers and mothers with young children living in poverty.
About Waterford
Waterford Institute is a non-profit research center that creates personalized, cloud-based instruction through award-winning curriculum, content and assessment for children aged Pre-K to 3rd grade. As a non-profit, Waterford is uniquely focused on providing accessibility, equity and excellence for our youngest learners to position them for a lifetime of learning and success. For more information, visit www.waterford.org or call 801-349-2200.
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SOURCE Waterford Institute
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