For the past two years, TRI's Robyn Lopez Melton has been making her mark in the field of Early Childhood Education on a local, state, and national level. Through her position at TRI, she serves as the Co-Director of Oregon's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), working closely with the Oregon Department of Education, and sharing Oregon's QRIS experiences at early childhood education conferences across the country.

Her relationship with both the Oregon and National Associations for the Education of Young Children (OAEYC and NAEYC) has become an ongoing exchange of ideas and knowledge that benefits the field of early childhood education as a whole.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the nation's leading voice for high-quality early childhood education for children from birth to age 8.

Keynote at the 2016 OAEYC Spring Conference

This year, that relationship continues as Lopez Melton was invited to join Megan Irwin (Oregon Early Learning System Director), Dawn Woods (Oregon Child Care Director) and Pamela Deardorff (Director of the Oregon Center for Career Development in Childhood Care and Education at PSU) to provide the keynote at the 2016 OAEYC Spring Conference.

The keynote, delivered April 16, 2016, was titled "Oregon's Early Learning Workforce." The panel explored Oregon’s workforce study including characteristics of the workforce and engagement in professional development initiatives, examined Oregon’s workforce data and compare across years, as well as to national trend, and developed recommendations and considerations that could be used to influence future investment policy and professional development efforts in the field.

Click here for the slide presentation from the keynote.

National Head Start Conference and Expo

Coming up in May, Lopez Melton joins a panel of early childhood experts from across the country to discuss the integration of states' QRIS and Head Start programs. The 43rd Annual National Head Start Conference and Expo, titled The Next Generation of Opportunity, will take place in Nashville,Tennessee on May 16 through 20, 2016.

Click here for more information about the panel members and the topic.

Click here for more information about the upcoming Annual National Head Start Conference and Expo.  

Robyn Lopez Melton is just one example of the passion and commitment to early childhood education that fuels the work of the Center for Early Learning (CEL) at TRI. Along with her colleagues, Lopez Melton continues to make the field more inclusive, effective, and successful for educators, providers, families and, of course, our children.