Kate Delaney

Associate Professor
Department of Teacher Education

Gillham Hall 4505
Mail Stop 954
Phone:419.530.4046
Katherine.Delaney@utoledo.edu

I am an Associate Professor of Early Childhood and Special Education at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. Prior to this position, I completed a two-year Post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, where I worked with Dr. Susan B. Neuman, exploring teacher practices around literacy interventions, as well as the scale up of universal pre-K (UPK) in New York City. I received my PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2013. Before pursuing my doctoral degree, I was a preschool teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and New York City.

My research largely focuses on relationships between early education policy (with a particular focus on public pre-Kindergarten and Head Start) and the lived experiences of teachers, children and families as they engage in program implementation and reforms. This means that I am focused on how different actors make sense of policies, relate these policies to their lived experiences and communities, and also understand how early childhood policy is represented in the media and political campaigns. My work is largely qualitative, with the goal of giving voice to communities that are often subject to, but rarely included in, early childhood policy and program design and decision-making.

Outside of work I am busy with my children, husband and dog. I spend a lot of time cooking and with family and friends.

Previous Positions

University of Michigan (2013-2015) – Post-doctoral Research Fellow, School of Education

Educational Background

PhD, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Curriculum and Instruction (Early Childhood Education), 2009-2013.

MS, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Curriculum and Instruction (Early Childhood Education), 2007-2009.

BA, Barnard College, Columbia University, History and Political Science, 1997-2001

Research and Service

Delaney, K. (In Press). Calendar Time: Negotiating best practices in public pre-Kindergarten. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.

Delaney, K. (In Press). Looking Away: An analysis of early childhood teaching and learning experiences framed through the Pre-K CLASS. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood.

Delaney, K. and Neuman, S.B. (2018). Selling pre-K: Media, politics and policy in the case of Universal Pre-Kindergarten in New York City. Teachers College Record, 120 (5).

Delaney, K. (2017). Playing at violence: lock-down drills, ‘bad guys’ and the construction of ‘acceptable’ play in early childhood. Early Child Development and Care, 187 (5-6). doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1219853

Delaney, K. & Neuman, S.B. (2016). Literacy in Early Childhood: What we know, are learning and should be doing. In D.L. Couchenour & J. Kent Chrisman (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education. New York: SAGE.

Delaney, K. & Neuman, S.B. (2016). Contexts for teacher practice: (Re)considering the role of context in early childhood teacher engagement with new approaches to literacy curriculum. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(89). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2166

Delaney, K. (2015). Dissonance for understanding: Exploring a new theoretical lens for understanding teacher identity formation in borderlands of practice. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 16(4).

Graue, E., Karabon, A., Delaney, K., Whyte, K., & Kim, J. (2015). Imagining a future in 4K: How professional identity shapes notions of early mathematics. Anthropology in Education, 46(1).

Graue, E., Whyte, K. & Delaney K. (2014). Fostering Culturally & Developmentally Responsive Teaching Through Improvisational Practice. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 35(4).

Wager, A. & Delaney, K. (2014). Exploring young children’s multiple mathematical resources through action research. TODOS Research Monograph, 10(2). Graue, E., Delaney, K. & Karch, A. (2013). Ecologies of education quality. education policy analysis archives, 21(8).

Delaney, K. & Graue, E. (2012). Early childhood curriculum as palimpsest. In File, N., Mueller, J.J. & Wisneski, D.B. (Eds.), Curriculum in early childhood education: Re-examined, rediscovered, renewed (pp.188-199). New York: Routledge.

Presentations

Delaney, K. (2018). Exploring Teacher/Leader Experiences With the Pre-K Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as a Part of the Head Start Designation Renewal System. Invited poster session for “Excellence in Education Research: Early-Career Scholars and Their Work” at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual meeting. New York, NY.

Delaney, K. & Tortorelli, L. (2018). Exploring Research Practice Partnerships in Early Childhood Setting: Opportunities, Strategies, and Key Findings. A symposium presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual meeting. New York, NY.

Delaney, K. & Whyte, K. (2018). Towards a single notion of quality?: A critical analysis of the narrowing of what constitutes “quality” in Head Start research. A paper presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual meeting. New York, NY.

Delaney, K. (2017). Looking Away: Examining children’s independent learning experiences when quality metrics are focused on adult/child interactions. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Antonio, TX.

Delaney, K. & Krepps, K. (2017) Take Two: Supporting Head Start teacher engagement with Instructional Support practices. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Antonio, TX.

Delaney, K. & Neuman, S.B. (2016). Selling pre-K: Media, politics and policy in the case of Universal Pre-Kindergarten in New York City. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Washington, D.C.

Delaney, K. (2016). Code Red: Learning and lockdown in one pre-K classroom. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Washington, D.C.

Delaney, K. (2015). Contexts for teacher practice: (Re)considering the role of context in early childhood teacher engagement with new approaches to literacy curriculum. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Chicago.

Delaney, K. (2014). Dissonance for understanding: Exploring a new theoretical framework for analyzing pre-K teacher identity formation. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Philadelphia.

Delaney, K. (2013). Dissonance for understanding: Exploring teacher identity formation in the Pre-K borderland. A poster presented at the High Scope Conference for Early Childhood Research and Evaluation.

Graue, E., Delaney, K., Karabon, A., Whyte, K., Kim, J. & Wager, A. (2013). Imagining a future in 4K. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Francisco.

Graue, E., Karch, A., Delaney, K. & Romero, C. (2012). Value added is not enough. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Vancouver.

Graue, E. & Delaney, K. (2012) Developmentally responsive pedagogy. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young People (NAEYC). Orlando.

Graue, E., Delaney, K., Karch, A. & Romero, C. (2011). Data use as a reform strategy. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). New Orleans.

Graue, E., Gawade, N., Delaney, K., Karch, A. & Romero, C. (2011). Ecologies of education quality. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). New Orleans.

Courses