Professor of Education Mary Kay Delaney has been appointed to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Think Tank on K-3 Assessment.
Delaney is one of 22 education experts appointed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson to serve on this six-month project on assessing the educational needs of young children and students in the early grades.
The task force kick-off meeting was held February 15.
"The early years of formal education provide us with our most optimal opportunity to lay a strong foundation for lifelong learning and productivity," said Atkinson. "As education leaders, our goal is to craft the best possible methods to help students right from the start. This group will provide us with ideas we can leverage to make the most of students' early years of education."
In addition to Delaney, the Think Tank roster includes child development scholars from public and private universities across the state, including Duke, UNC- Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and others. The early learning assessment effort was authorized by the N.C. General Assembly, and is being implemented by the state Department of Public Instruction. The effort is funded in part by a $70 million federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant that North Carolina won in 2011.
