The paper, “Administrators Perceptions of Early Childhood Education,” was based on the findings from Florendo’s dissertation. She graduated in December 2012 and is currently the coordinator for Alliance for Kids, an initiative of the Early Childhood Council for El Paso County serving Colorado Springs, CO. Florendo is also an adjunct instructor in early childhood education for Doane College.
The award was given at the National Rural Education Association’s convention and research symposium in October in Branson, MO. The study examined school administrators’ perceptions about pre-K programming, knowledge of research, understanding of curriculum and availability of resources. Recommendations from the research included training for superintendents and elementary principals about the benefits of pre-K education and community outreach on the same topic. The Howard Dawson Award, sponsored by the Howard A. Dawson Foundation, is presented to the author(s) of the paper that is judged to be the best research paper submitted for the annual Research Symposium.