Keynotes & Speakers
Keynote Speakers
2025 KEYNOTES & SPEAKERS
Tuesday
April 22nd, 2025 – Leadership Day
Chief Executive Officer
Pre-K 4 SA
Sarah Baray, Ph.D. serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Pre-K 4 SA. She has over 30 years of experience in the education field, including time as a teacher, principal, and district administrator in the Austin Independent School District. As a professor at Texas State University, Dr. Baray directed the Ph.D. in School Improvement program and served as a researcher and instructor in the university’s Educational and Community Leadership program.
Dr. Baray’s research interests focus on policies and practices related to educational equity. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters and has provided extensive professional development to help educators become more culturally responsive.
With a special testimonial from Gregorio Velazquez, Administrator on Assignment Special Projects, SAISD ECE Department.
Wednesday
April 23rd, 2025 – Roundtable Discussion
Chair, HighScope Board of Directors
Jana provides leadership advice to state, organizational, and higher education programs focused on early childhood education policy and practice. Her experience includes time as Co-Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO), Executive Director of the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS-SDE, now NASLEE), as well as roles as a teacher, assistant school administrator, state legislative liaison, and coordinator of federal programs.
Jana has worked on key initiatives designed to advance access and quality in early childhood education and care, including supporting school linkages to children aged 0-8, early childhood systems building, expanding research findings on policies and practices that promote school readiness, and assisting states in improving their early childhood accountability and governance structures that support child development and learning.
Sarah Baray
Chief Executive Officer
Pre-K 4 SA
Sarah Baray, Ph.D. serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Pre-K 4 SA. She has over 30 years of experience in the education field, including time as a teacher, principal, and district administrator in the Austin Independent School District. As a professor at Texas State University, Dr. Baray directed the Ph.D. in School Improvement program and served as a researcher and instructor in the university’s Educational and Community Leadership program.
Dr. Baray’s research interests focus on policies and practices related to educational equity. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters and has provided extensive professional development to help educators become more culturally responsive.
With a special testimonial from Gregorio Velazquez, Administrator on Assignment Special Projects, SAISD ECE Department.
Steven Barnett
Co-Director, Founder, NIEER
Dr. Steven Barnett is a Board of Governors Professor of Education, Economics, and Policy and Founding Co-Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. Beginning in the 1980s, Dr. Barnett conducted groundbreaking long-term benefit-cost analyses of the Perry Preschool and other early childhood programs. His research has demonstrated the broad range of benefits of early education—including cognitive, social, and economic gains—and established the clear public interest in investing in high-quality early education.
Dr. Barnett has studied home and preschool learning environments, led large-scale evaluations of early education initiatives, and developed the State of Preschool survey that has provided detailed state-by-state data on preschool policies in the USA annually since 2002. Dr. Barnett is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, a member of the National Academy of Education, and chairs the Awarding Committee for the Khalifa International Award for Early Learning.
Thursday
April 24th, 2025
Psychiatrist & Author
Dr. Joshua Sparrow is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of Strategy, Planning, and Program Development at the Brazelton Touchpoints Center at Children’s Hospital Boston. His experience caring for thousands of children hospitalized for severe psychiatric disturbances in the 1990s prompted his interest in community-based prevention and health promotion. At Brazelton Touchpoints Center, where budget and activities have tripled over the past decade, Dr. Sparrow initiated and oversees a ten-year partnership with Harlem Children’s Zone’s family support and early education programs, including Tribal Touchpoints, Touchpoints Latin Initiative, New York City Public Health Department’s Childcare Inspection Project.
Dr. Sparrow’s recent publications include several chapters on strengths-based, culturally informed family support and professional development programs and a textbook co-edited with Barry Lester, PhD, Nurturing Children and Families: Building on the Legacy of T. Berry Brazelton. Dr. Sparrow co-authored eight child development/parenting books with Brazelton, including Touchpoints Three to Six: Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development, and the weekly New York Times syndicate column, Families Today. Dr. Sparrow holds joint appointments at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston.
Friday
April 25th, 2025 – Panel Discussion
HighScope’s Research, Evaluation, & Development Team
Yolanda “Yo” Eddins
Yolanda has more than 30 years of experience leading and working with corporations, nonprofit agencies, the U.S. Department of Education, and faith-based organizations. She has served in leadership roles in multiple school districts and child welfare agencies, where she worked to increase parent engagement and create better outcomes for children. Yolanda’s experience includes developing parent training, youth programs, community outreach strategies, and curriculum for schools, organizations, and nonprofits.
