Samuel J. Meisels

Samuel J. Meisels is an American academic whose scholarship focuses on early childhood assessment, child development, and educational practices that support the developmental needs of young children.

Meisels is the founding executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, president emeritus of Erikson Institute, and a professor and research scientist emeritus at the University of Michigan. Meisels retired from the Buffett Institute on Feb. 28, 2023, concluding a career that spanned more than a half-century and established him as a leading voice in the field of early childhood education and development. Other notable awards include the Richmond-Coleman Award in Developmental Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics (2005); president, Board of Directors, Zero to Three (2006); member, National Academy of Sciences Committee on Early Childhood Pedagogy (2000); Ferguson Award for Leadership in Early Childhood Education, National-Louis University (2000); and Mary E. Switzer Distinguished Fellow in Handicapped Research, US Department of Education (1985).

Education

Meisels received his bachelor's degree with high honors in philosophy from the University of Rochester in 1967 in 1973.

Professional Positions

Tufts University In 1972 Meisels accepted a position as a faculty member at Tufts University and, from 1973-1978, was director of the Eliot-Pearson Children's School, the laboratory school of the Department of Child Study. a graduate school in child development, from 2002-2013. where he was also a tenured professor of child, youth, and family studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He held courtesy appointments on the other Nebraska campuses as professor of public health, public administration, and education. In 2017 the university appointed Meisels to the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Early Childhood Development, the highest honor the university can confer on a faculty member. Over his career he published more than 200 books, articles, assessments, and monographs. developmental consequences of high risk birth, school readiness, and performance assessment of young children. His publications are widely referenced. Google Scholar records more than 11,000 citations of his research. In addition to developing and researching early childhood assessments, he prepared activity books for parents and co-edited two handbooks for the field. He has written extensively about the use of alternative assessment strategies that are authentic, performance-based, and developmentally appropriate for young children and those in the early elementary grades, and he co-authored three widely-used early childhood assessments. It is one of the most reliable and carefully developed early childhood screening instruments available and is currently in its third edition.

The Work Sampling System

First begun in 1987, Work Sampling is an observational assessment for children from preschool (age 3) – Grade 3.

WSS has been used throughout the United States and internationally for more than three decades. Currently in its fifth edition, it has undergone extensive validation, and was the subject of several peer-reviewed empirical studies that document its validity.

The Ounce Scale

Meisels and colleagues also published the Ounce Scale: An Observational Assessment for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. The Ounce is an authentic performance assessment used with children from infancy through age three. Notable is the Ounce Scale's focus on the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers and the involvement of families in the assessment process.

Impact As researcher, practitioner, policy analyst, and administrator, Meisels has helped shape the United States's view of young children as well as young children's care and education. His research and development altered the experience of countless children and teachers; influenced local, state, and national policymakers' decisions; and contributed to changes in legislation, including Congressional suspension of a nationwide test for all 4-5 year-olds in Head Start (the National Reporting System).

Meisels's policy analysis of Massachusetts's early intervention services shaped its system of care in its early days. His work with disabled children advanced the national discussion on inclusion. and the Buffett Institute dramatically expanded the reach of his ideas and his passion to help all children achieve their full potential.