Sue Bredekamp

Virginia Sue Bredekamp is an American early childhood educator.

While serving as Director of Professional Development for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) from 1984 to 1998, Bredekamp instrumented the development of a national accreditation system for the many thousands of child care and early childhood entities throughout the country. She compiled the standards within the book "NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation", which has undergone three revisions. In 1997, she co-wrote with Carol Copple "Developmentally Appropriate Practice".

Bredekamp earned her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. After teaching children ages 2-6, she directed several child care and preschool programs before serving as a trainer for child care personnel at a community college. Before her appointment at the NAEYC, Bredekamp served on the faculty of the Human Development/Childhood Education program at Mount Vernon College for Women in Washington, DC. Upon her retirement from the NAEYC, she took the role of Director of Research at the Council for Professional Recognition and as a Special Consultant to the Head Start Bureau.

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/hearings/107th/edr/earlychild73101/bredekamp.htm Bredekamp's testimony to Subcommittee on Select Education]