UAB psychologist to address childhood conference

Contact: Maridith Geuder

A developmental psychologist and author of "Right From Birth" will speak Tuesday [March 2] at Mississippi State.

Craig Ramey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a frequent consultant to federal and state agencies, will be a key presenter at the university's 14th annual Early Childhood Education Conference.

More than 200 educators are expected to take part in the 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. gathering at the Wise Center auditorium. "Research on Brain Development and Learning to Read: A Wake-Up Call" is this year's theme.

Coordinated by MSU's department of curriculum and instruction, Early Childhood Association and Division of Continuing Education, the conference will be telecast simultaneously over the Mississippi Interactive Video Network, which is available to more than 120 sites.

Sessions on brain development, brain research and learning to read and research practices in Mississippi are among other parts of the program.

Ramey directs UAB's Civitan International Research Center. A professor of psychology, pediatrics, sociology, and maternal and child health, he specializes in early interventions to prevent or treat disabilities in children.

He is the founding director of the Infant Health and Development Program, an eight-site study of early intervention for nearly 1,000 low birth weight and premature children. He also heads a 31-site study of education reform for the Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project, sponsored by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

For more information on the conference, telephone Susan Brown at (601) 325-2655.