Fri., Mar. 30, 2012, Noon to 1 p.m.

Children's Right to Thrive: The Foundational Years

Oklahoma History Center, Chesapeake Room
800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr., Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Dr. Craig T. Ramey, Professor and Distinguished Research Scholar at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

Sponsor: 
Oklahoma Child Care Services Division

By the time your children are teenagers, it can be hard to remember the days when they were in day care. But those early experiences may still be affecting them, according to a new study exploring the long-term impact of child care. We'll go inside the results and consider what they mean for parents trying to find high-quality care for their kids.  Dr. Ramey will discuss the consequences of low resource environments in early childhood and how these impact school readiness.  Children from low resource environments who participate in quality early childhood programs are less likely to repeat grades, be in special education, experience a teen pregnancy, use drugs or smoke, or experience teen depression.

About the Speaker:
Craig T. Ramey, Ph.D., is the Distinguished Research Scholar of Human Development at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Professor of Psychology at Virginia Tech, and Professor of Pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.  He specializes in the study of factors affecting children’s health and the development of intelligence, social competence, and academic achievement.  Over the past 40 year he and his wife, Sharon Landesman Ramey, have conducted multidisciplinary longitudinal research with more than 100,000 children in over 40 states.  He is the Founding Director of several frequently cited early intervention programs including the Abecedarian Project, Project CARE, the Infant Health and Development Program, and currently serves as the Chief Science Officer for the statewide preschool educational program for PreK children in Louisiana. 

Currently Dr. Ramey is helping to launch a long-term longitudinal study of brain development known as the Roanoke Brain Study.  Dr. Ramey is the author of more than 250 publications including five books.  He frequently consults with federal and state government, as well as private foundations and agencies, and the news media.  Dr. Ramey has received many honors including, The Society for Research in Child Development Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children and he was inducted into the Hall of Honor of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for “leading the research effort to document the effectiveness of environmental enrichment as an early intervention to improve outcomes for children at risk for developmental and intellectual disabilities”.