Who are the 8 members of the new Preschools Outcomes Measure Expert Advisory Group?

Federal Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge has announced the formation of a new Expert Advisory Group that will be tasked with developing options to measure the impact of preschool for Australian children. 

 

The Group consists of a group of eight individuals with diverse expertise across early childhood development and education and members bring both local and international experience.

 

This article aims to provide a bit more context on the eight early childhood education and care (ECEC) leaders who have been invited to participate in this important project. 

 

Professor Sharon Goldfeld

 

Professor Goldfeld is an expert in policy, a paediatrician, a public health clinician scientist and has ten years Government experience as a senior policy maker in health and education. 

 

Her current research focuses on investigating, testing and translating sustainable policy relevant solutions that eliminate inequities for Australia’s children.

 

Professor Goldfeld is currently the Theme Director Population Health and Co-Group Leader of Policy and Equity at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and also the Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital.

 

Professor Sally Brinkman

 

Professor Sally Brinkman is a social epidemiologist with the majority of her research focusing on societies’ impact on child development in multiple countries. 

 

She is also well known for spearheading the Australian Early Development Census, the first such pilot of the underlying instrument outside of Canada. 

 

Professor Brinkman is currently the Program Head of International Child Development and Team Head of Child Health, Development and Education for the Telethon Kids Institute and also the Co-Director of the Fraser Mustard Centre, an initiative of the Telethon Kids Institute and the South Australian Department of Education and Child Development.

 

Professor Leslie Loble 

 

Professor Leslie Loble is a recognised leader of public purpose reform in Australia and also the United States where she has held senior leadership roles in Government. 

 

Most recently, Professor Loble served as Deputy Secretary (division CEO) in the NSW Department of Education for 20 years, driving strategy, innovation and delivery working across schooling, early childhood and tertiary education.

 

She is currently the Industry Professor at University of Technology Sydney, a Fellow of both the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the Centre for Policy Development (CPD), where she co-chairs CPD’s Council on Early Childhood Development., among other appointments. 

 

Doctor Dan Cloney

 

Dr Dan Cloney is a well known researcher with expertise in early education, cognitive development, and academic achievement. 

 

Dr Cloney has a particular interest in the potential for high-quality early childhood education and care programs to support all children to flourish and to reduce development gaps caused by inequality. 

 

Currently Dr Cloney, is a Senior Research Fellow in the Education Policy and Practice Program and a Member of the Centre for Global Education Monitoring at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

 

Doctor Sandra Cheeseman

 

Dr Sandra Cheeseman has a diverse range of policy, academic and managerial leadership experience in the Australian ECEC sector. 

 

Dr Cheeseman was a member of the core writing team of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) for Australia and has wide-ranging experience in design and delivery of professional learning programs translating theory and research in a practical context.

 

She is currently a lecturer in early childhood policy, leadership and professional experience and is also the Chief Operating Operator at ECEC provider C&K.

 

Dr Stacey Fox

 

Dr Stacey Fox has worked in research and policy across child, youth and family sectors for a number of years. 

 

Recently, Dr Fox was Senior Manager of Research and Projects at the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) where she led a large national project focused on parent engagement in learning which was followed by a stint at the Mitchell Institute as a Policy Fellow. 

 

Dr Fox is currently a manager at public policy specialist Dandolo Partners. 

 

Dr Anne Kennedy

 

Dr Anne Kennedy has extensive experience in early childhood education as a consultant and researcher but also an advocate, writer, teacher and trainer. 

 

Dr Kennedy was part of the core writing team of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and has worked extensively with Early Childhood Australia having been involved with the revision of ECA’s Code of Ethics in 2006 and 2016. 

 

Dr Kennedy is a Fellow of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, a member of the Victorian Children’s Council and a Board member of The Front Project and The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). 

 

Dr Sue Mentha

 

Dr Sue Mentha is a lecturer in Early Childhood Education, most recently at The University of Melbourne, Australia. 

 

Her research has focused on decolonising childhoods by examining how understandings of the child are drawn upon and enacted in policy and curriculum reform, and how this impacts on diverse children’s becoming. 

 

Sue’s research interests are in early education policy analysis, disrupting coloniality and conceptual disentangling of the broader assumptions of being, including children’s rights in education.