Active Experiences for Active Children

Carol Seefeldt, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of human development at the Institute for Child Study, University of Maryland, College Park, where she continues to teach graduate and undergraduate classes. She received the Distinguished Scholar-Researcher award from the university and has published 25 books and over 100 scholarly and research articles for teachers and parents. Her books include Social Studies for the Preschool/Primary Child, Active Experiences for Active Children: Literacy Emerges, and Current Issues in Early Childhood Education (all with Alice Galper). She has also written Playing to Learn and Creating Rooms of Wonder. She coauthored Early Childhood: Where Learning Begins-Geography for the U.S. Department of Education.

During her 40 years in the field, Dr. Seefeldt has taught at every level from nursery school for 2-year-olds through third grade. In Florida, she directed a church-related kindergarten, and served as Regional Training Officer for Project Head Start. She has frequently conducted teacher-training programs in the United States, Japan, and Ukraine, and is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows.

Carol's research has revolved around program development and evaluation. She pioneered the study of intergenerational attitudes, and was the director of the Montgomery County Head Start-Public School Transition Demonstration Evaluation.

Alice Galper, Ph. D., educator and consultant, received her doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously, she was a classroom teacher in New Hampshire and a Head Start Consultant in the Washington, D.C., area. She was a professor of human development teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in early childhood and human development at Mt. Vernon College, Washington, D.C., for nearly 20 years and at the University of Maryland. She assisted Carol Seefeldt on the research component of the Montgomery County Head Start-Public School Transition Demonstration Evaluation. Currently she is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland.

Alice's research has revolved around intergenerational attitudes and program evaluation. She has written many articles for such journals as Child Development, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Alice presents workshops and papers regularly at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference, the Head Start Research Conference, and the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meetings, among others.

Active in community affairs, Alice has been appointed by Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., as cochair of the Interagency Coordinating Council of the DC Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers, and she volunteers for Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc.