Dr. Meisels has served as president of Erikson Institute since 2002. He holds the Irving and Neison Harris President’s Chair.
He came to Erikson after 21 years at the University of Michigan, where he is now professor and research scientist emeritus. Previously, he was a faculty member in the Department of Child Study and director of the Eliot-Pearson Children's School at Tufts. A former preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade teacher, he also served as senior advisor in early childhood development for the Developmental Evaluation Clinic of Boston's Children's Hospital. He holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
One of the nation's leading authorities on the assessment of young children, Dr. Meisels has published over 200 articles, books, and monographs, and is co-author of the Work Sampling System, the Early Screening Inventory Revised, The Ounce Scale and The Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention.
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His research focuses on the development of alternative assessment strategies for young children; the impact of standardized tests on children; and developmental screening in early childhood. Recently, he completed research on the validity of The Ounce Scale, an observational assessment for birth to three-year-olds and their families.
Dr. Meisels is former president of the board of directors of Zero To Three: The National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and is an advisor to the national Head Start Bureau. He was a member of the National Academy of Science's Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy and has served as a senior investigator for the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort and for the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement.
Among his honors, Dr. Meisels has received the American Academy of Pediatrics 2005 Dale Richmond/Justin Coleman Lectureship Award; the Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children Outstanding Service to Young Children Award (2005); and the Association of Children's Museums Great Friend to Kids Award.
Areas of Expertise
Developmental assessment of young children; the effect of standardized tests on children; the impact of state and federal policies on the families of children with disabilities; development of alternative assessment strategies; and developmental consequences of high-risk birth.
Honors
Phyllis Levenstein Memorial Lecture, Parent-Child Home Program, April 2007
Dale Richmond/Justin Coleman Lectureship Award, Section
on Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, American Academy
of Pediatrics, Oct. 2005
William C. Friday Distinguished Lecture, School of Education, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Oct. 2005
Warren Wright Guest Lecture, Division of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry, Northwestern School of Medicine, Oct. 2005
Outstanding Service to Young Children Award, Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children, Jan. 2005
the Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children Outstanding Service to Young Children Award (2005); and the Association of Children's Museums Great Friend to Kids Award.