Kathy Ward-Cameron, M.S.

Kathy Ward-Cameron is a master instructor for Brookes Publishing on the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO), specializing in the use of the ELLCO to inform and guide professional development. She is also executive director/ founding president of the Early Literacy Institute/ Early Learning International (ELI). ELI is a cadre of trainers, evaluators and consultants based in the USA who offer professional development services to help early childhood programs provide scientifically based early learning initiatives for young children. Under her leadership, the ELI team has provided professional development and assessments for several state and federally funded programs.

Kathy has extensive experience in early learning professional development as a trainer, facilitator, coach, research consultant, evaluator, and program manager/coordinator, including the following:

• Certified Facilitator on the Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills, workshops based on the ground-breaking book by Ellen Galinski designed to share the science of children’s learning.
• Instructor on the Office of Head Start’s Practice-Based Coaching (PBC). Designed and developed the training model and materials for this comprehensive coaching model at Vanderbilt University for the National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning (NCQTL).
• Certified facilitator of Community of Practices (CoP) through the University of Florida, School Readiness Institute, and Early Learning Florida.
• Certified trainer on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE).
• Research consult on the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) study with Vanderbilt University, University of FL, and University of South FL researching professional development for preschool teachers using the Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Young Children, which includes evidence-based practices designed to support young children’s social and emotional skills and prevent challenging behaviors.
• Research and coach consultant for the University of Florida on the Embedded Instruction for Early Learning Project to help inform the ECE field about which professional development approaches appear to be most promising for supporting teachers to implement evidence-based practices with fidelity, including Practice Based Coaching.
• Research consultant at the University of Virginia, for the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) professional development study team, My Teaching Partner (MTP), researching professional development for teachers using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS).
• Evaluator for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Literacy and the Chicago Department of Human Services of the Head Start Early Literacy and Youth Development Initiative – Project SOAR, an early literacy program which prepared teens and parents to work side-by-side with teachers to enhance the early literacy skills and development of at-risk children.
• Subscription relations manager for the National Head Start Association’s satellite broadcast network, the Heads Up Network, and trained facilitators of Heads Up! Reading, a 30 hour early literacy course broadcast via satellite to early childhood programs, libraries and universities nationwide, and was the Illinois state coordinator for HUR.

Kathy has been invited to present on topics related to early learning, distance learning and cultural responsiveness at several national conferences, including two US Department of Education Early Reading First Symposiums, and internationally at the Working Forum for Teacher Educators in New Zealand and the Early Childhood World Forum in Canada.