Governor Appoints UW Professor to Statewide Advisory Council

August 23, 2010
Woman smiling
Elementary and Early Childhood Education Professor Michelle Buchanan will serve on the Wyoming Early Childhood State Advisory Council.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal has appointed Michelle Buchanan, associate professor in the University of Wyoming Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, to the Wyoming Early Childhood State Advisory Council.

Created by executive order, the council will work to strengthen the early childhood system through greater coordination and collaboration among public and private early childhood care and education programs and services in Wyoming. Its first task will be to conduct a statewide needs assessment of the quality and availability of early childhood programs and services.

"I am convinced that investing in early childhood is one of the best investments we can make for the future of the state and its children and families," Gov. Freudenthal said. "I am confident that every person on this council will do their best to guide thoughtful and creative solutions to address our children's needs,"

Buchanan received UW's first Everett D. and Elizabeth M. Lantz Distinguished Professorship in Education. The award, endowed by the Lantz family, was established to attract and retain outstanding education scholars and teachers with a proven track record and national reputation in their chosen fields.

It supports Buchanan's individual research and contributes to her work on a Wyoming Department of Education initiative to develop "a system for school readiness that will help families, schools and communities work together to make sure that children come to school with the support that they need to be successful."

Buchanan has worked closely with the Wyoming Department of Education and the state's early childhood teachers in developing an observation tool for documenting children's foundations for learning including social competence and self-regulation.

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