Institute for Early Childhood Development & Education

Join us at The SEC Early Childhood Summit on September 22, 2026. This year's theme, Educator Well-Being Matters: Strengthening the Early Childhood Workforce, will bring together educators, administrators, researchers, students, and community partners for a day of learning, networking, and collaboration.

The summit will feature nationally recognized experts, including:

• Dr. Kenya Wolff, University of Mississippi
• Dr. Kyong-Ah Kwon, University of Oklahoma
• Dr. Nelson Brunsting, University of Florida
• Dr. Cynthia Wiltshire, University of Texas El Paso
• Dr. Sebrina Doyle Fosco, Pennsylvania State University
• Dr. Laura Lessard, University of Delaware

In addition to keynote presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with researchers on various topics including rural health, public health, cortisol studies, special ed/psychology and more.

Whether you are interested in research, practice, policy, or collaboration, the summit offers a unique opportunity to connect with experts, explore innovative projects, and build meaningful partnerships that support children and the professionals who serve them. Additional details, including registration information and the full agenda, will be announced soon.

We hope you will join us for this important event as we work together to strengthen the early childhood workforce and the communities that support it.

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Congratulations to the first recipients of the Mahoney Travel Fund for undergraduate students in the Texas A&M University Institute for Early Childhood Development & Education. This generous gift made possible through the support of our valued partners Dr. Sue Mahoney ’94 ’02 and Patrick Mahoney ’71, provides students with opportunities to attend national and regional conferences across the country. Through these experiences, students were able to network with leaders in the field and present research developed under the mentorship of Texas A&M University Institute for Early Childhood Development & Education.

We are proud to recognize the following student award recipients: Stephanie Barrera, Samantha Hart-Ihnken, Catie Samson, Valeria de la Serna Gonzalez, and Rachel Williams.

Samantha Hart-Inken, a junior in the EC-6 teacher preparation major in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture, College of Education and Human Development, is named AERA Undergraduate Research Fellow. The AERA Undergraduate Fellows were selected based on the quality of their research studies and their plans for graduate study in the field of education research. As part of the fellowship, Hart-Inken presented her research at the prestigious annual meeting of the American Education Research Association.