Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, Noon

Quality Early Childhood Education and Oklahoma's Economic Future

Research shows that quality early childhood education can make a significant contribution to reducing the achievement gap between children in poor and non-poor families, and thus in the long run can help to reduce poverty and inequality. Join Dr. Ron Haskins as he addresses the societal and economic impacts of quality early childhood education.

Ron Haskins, Ph.D.

Sponsors: 
Oklahoma Child Care Services, Public Strategies, and the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative

About the Speaker:
Ron Haskins, Ph.D., is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution and senior consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Ron Haskins holds a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s in education, and a doctorate in developmental psychology, from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C..

Haskins has served as the Senior Advisor to the President for Welfare Policy at the White House, Majority Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives and Welfare Counsel for the Republican Staff of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives.

He has been a research professor at the UNC, Chapel Hill, a lecturer in history and education at the UNC, Charlotte, N.C., and a high school social studies teacher. Haskins has published books and articles on a number of education-related topics, including intellectual development, day-care policy, federal expenditures on social programs and federal budget and tax policy, including Creating an Opportunity Society, a book that he co-authored with Isabel Sawhill. Haskins is a senior editor of The Future of Children, a journal on policy issues that affect children and families. His areas of expertise include welfare reform, child care, child support enforcement, family composition and marriage, and child protection.

In 1997, Haskins was selected by the National Journal as one of the 100 most influential people in the federal government. In 2000, Haskins received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. In 2005, he received the President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Human Services from the American Public Human Services Association.

Audio (Opens in new window)