Education
Dr. Paciorek’s degrees in early childhood education include a:
- B.A. University of Pittsburgh
- M.A. George Washington University
- Ph.D. Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
Teaching Experience
Early experiences include teaching preschool, kindergarten and elementary school in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Virginia prior to beginning work at the university level.
A faculty job at Shippensburg University and adjunct positions at Vanderbilt University and Eastern Michigan University prepared her for a tenure track position beginning in 1988 where she holds the rank of Professor and is faculty coordinator for the Early Childhood Education program, one of the largest in the country. She teaches undergraduate and graduate classes to prepare teachers to work with children from birth through age eight. Early Childhood Education students at EMU earn the state of Michigan General and Special Early Education Z.S. endorsement with elementary certification.
Scholarly Work and Current Publications
The majority of Dr. Paciorek’s writings have been in her role as editor of three different series of books all published by McGraw-Hill Publishers. For the past 30 years her edited series, Early Childhood Education: Annual Editions, has been the most widely adopted text-book in early childhood education. Each year Dr. Paciorek reads over 500 articles and selects and writes overviews for the 50 most significant readings to include in the annual collection of readings. The book is used at over 600 colleges and universities and may be found in public libraries, pediatricians’ offices and teacher reference sections of school libraries.
Dr. Paciorek also edits Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Early Childhood Education currently in its second edition and Sources: Notable Selections in Early Childhood Education also in its second edition. Taking Sides presents 18 controversial issues in the field and presents a pro and a con side. Dr. Paciorek received a semester long faculty research award to
complete the research.
In addition, she frequently reviews a variety of text books for many publishers in the areas of educational psychology, child development, curriculum, family interactions and behavior and guidance.
Dr. Paciorek serves as the only outside member to the institutional review board for the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, the organization responsible for the frequently cited Perry Preschool Longitudinal study on the benefits of quality preschool. High/Scope is the preeminent research organization in the field.
Presentations
Each year Dr. Paciorek is invited to present at many local, state and major national and international professional conferences. Presentations focus on establishing the learning environment, aligning early learning standards and curriculum and developing relationships with families.
She is a frequently interviewed by many media outlets on issues affecting young children and their families. In 2006 she was invited to join a group of educators who traveled to China to view schools and gather data on teaching Chinese to American children. In 2012 Dr. Paciorek returned to China as one of four faculty from Eastern Michigan University as guests of the Weiming Education Group. She toured seven schools in four cities and worked to establish a partnership between Weiming and the University.
Dr. Paciorek works with numerous preschools, Head Start programs and school districts as they provide in-service education to teachers currently in the field.
Service Activities
Dr. Paciorek served as an elected School Board Trustee for the Northville Public Schools, Northville, MI from June 2002 - January 2011. She was President and secretary of the board and served as the chair of the board Instructional Services Committee for five years.
Other community service includes Board of Directors for Wolverine Human Services from 2004 – present which is a Michigan social service agency providing residential and day treatment programs to over 700 abused, neglected and delinquent youth.
She also served as President of two state professional organizations; the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children and Michigan Early Childhood Education Consortium. University service includes many committees and faculty advisor for two undergraduate student organizations.
Awards and Recognition
In 2006 Dr. Paciorek was awarded Eastern Michigan University’s Distinguished Faculty Award for Service, the University’s highest award. She was recognized in 2005 by the University with the Excellence in Academic Advising Award and received the Teaching Excellence Award from the Alumni Association of Eastern Michigan University in 2009.
She was selected as director of the new faculty development program due to her exemplary teaching over the years. She plays an active role in establishing relationships and fundraising for the Eastern Michigan University Foundation and in 2007 was awarded the National Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Detroit Chapter –Distinguished Volunteer with Michael J. Paciorek. In 2012 she and her husband Michael received the Presidential Award for Faculty and Staff Leadership in Advancement from E.M.U.
She lives in Novi, Michigan with her husband, also a professor at Eastern Michigan University, and they have two grown sons.
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