W. Steven Barnett
Director, National Institute for Early Education Research
Professor of Education Economics and Public Policy, Rutgers University

Research Interests: economics of early care and education including costs and benefits, the long term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities.
W. Steven Barnett is a Professor of Education Economics and Public Policy and Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. His research includes studies of the economics of early care and education including costs and benefits, the long term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities. Dr. Barnett earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan. Recent publications include The State of Preschool 2006: State Preschool Yearbook, the fourth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States, and "Early Childhood Program Design and Economic Returns: Comparative Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Program and Policy Implications" with Leonard Masse for Economics of Education Review (2007).

Ana I. Berdecia Senior Fellow/Director
Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children
John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy of Thomas Edison State College

Ms. Berdecia helps bridge the voices of teachers, practitioners, and parent/guardians to policy initiatives in New Jersey that impact the health, well-being, and educational outcomes of children and families. She also assists teachers in navigating the certification system and achieving licensure.  Prior to joining the college, Ana served as the executive director of the Puerto Rican Community Day Care Center, Inc., a multi-cultural child development center located in Trenton, New Jersey. She built a model program that turned an abandoned building into a state-of-the-art facility with expanded programs that strengthened and supported families.

Matthew Bergheiser
Program Director, Philadelphia
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Matthew Bergheiser is an experienced professional in urban and business redevelopment. Since June 2006 he serves as Knight Foundation’s regional program director for Philadelphia where he oversees all grant making in the metropolitan area. Most recently, Matt served as executive director of Trenton Downtown Association, where he was responsible for creating economic development programs. Prior to that, Matt was executive vice president at the Enterprise Center in Philadelphia, where he worked to stimulate business opportunities in the city’s distressed urban communities.

Amanda Blagman
Senior Policy Analyst
Association for Children of New Jersey

Kirsty Brown
Consultant, Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership
Rutgers University – Camden

Prior to taking a position as a Consultant at the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership, Dr. Brown served as an Assistant Director at the National Institute for Early Education Research, where she completed a randomized trial research project, managed various aspects of the institutional development of the agency, and managed grants and proposals. Dr. Brown has been advising CSUCL in developing the research component of the Early Learning Research Academy, and assessing children in the existing preschool program.

Margaret Burchinal
Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute
Research Professor of Psychology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research Interests: Statistical models, especially for longitudinal data; effects of childcare on cognitive, academic, and social development; family and school predictors of children's development outcomes for at-risk children.

Dr. Burchinal serves as a Co-Principal Investigator for the project “Data Acquisition and Analysis Center for NICHD Early Child Care Network” funded by the NICHD to examine the relationships between child development and childcare during infancy and early childhood. She is also a Principal Investigator in the “Risk & Protective Factors: Development of African American Youth” project funded through NIH to identify risk and protective factors in academic development for African American children in the NICHD SECCYD.

Virginia Buysse
Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute Research Associate Professor, School of Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research Interests: Early childhood inclusion, friendship and social-emotional development, language and literacy learning among Latino children, models of professional development, models of collaboration and change such as consultation and communities of practice, and program evaluation.

Dr. Buysse serves as a principal investigator on a grant funded by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation to examine the evidence base of Recognition and Response, an early intervening system for children in pre-K who may be at risk for learning disabilities. She also serves as a principal investigator on Nuestros Niños, a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education (Institute of Education Sciences) to examine the effects of professional development on teaching practices and language and literacy outcomes of Latino children enrolled in public pre-K programs.