Jana Martella Bio
Jana Martella (MS, MA) is the Executive Director of the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education and provides consultancy to multiple states on early childhood initiatives. She brings to her work more than thirty years of experience in education, including as a teacher and assistant administrator, legislative liaison, and state coordinator for federal programs. A central part of her focus has been on education system and program improvement through standards-based reform, including her work in promoting improved opportunities in early childhood education.
Jana currently oversees and provides consultancy to projects designed to: advance high quality early childhood education in the states; support school linkages to children aged 0-8 – particularly for those as risk of school failure; facilitate early childhood systems building; expand on research findings on policies and practices that promote school readiness; and, assist states in the improvement of early childhood accountability and quality mechanisms that support child development and learning.