UNC School of Education

Clinical Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education

Coordinator of Child Development and Family Studies Program

T 919.843.2046
F 919.962.1533
spalsha@email.unc.edu

301A Peabody Hall
CB 3500

Sharon Palsha is a clinical assistant professor in the School of Education where she coordinates the undergraduate Child Development and Family Studies Program and the Birth-Kindergarten Licensure-only Program. Palsha teaches the pre-K/kindergarten methods and assessment classes and supervises student teachers. Her background includes eight years in the classroom as a special education teacher.

Prior to joining the faculty, Palsha worked for 15 years as a researcher at the Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. She was co-investigator on a model demonstration grant funded to study the effectiveness of on-site consultation in childcare programs in enhancing early childhood environments to support inclusion. Working in childcare programs across the state of North Carolina, she and FPG colleague Pat Wesley developed an on-site model still used throughout the state to enhance quality in early childhood programs. Currently, FPG is implementing the model in a five-state research project. Palsha’s work on this topic was published in Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Earlier research was published in the Journal of Special Education, Journal of Early Intervention, Journal of Educational Research, Exceptional Children, American Annals of the Deaf and American Journal of Diseases of Children.

Palsha continues to maintain affiliation with Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, serving as co-chair of the Curriculum and Instructional Design Committee for the First School Initiative. She also has an interest in the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Palsha made five trips to Reggio Emilia, Italy to study the world-renowned schools and has written articles and a book chapter on the subject. Her chapter, “An Outstanding Education for ALL Children: Learning from Reggio’s Approach to Inclusion,” appears in Teaching and Learning: Collaborative Exploration of the Reggio Emilia Approach. Over the past five years, she has made presentations and given workshops on the topic at the annual Division of Early Childhood International Conference and at the National Association of Early Childhood Conference.

• Ph.D. 1989 - UNC-CH Special Education Certification in Birth-Kindergarten
• M.Ed. 1984 - UNC-CH Special Education Certification in Mental Disabilities and Learning Disabilities
• B.A. 1977 - UNC-CH Special Education Certification in Mental Disabilities

• Early Childhood Curriculum
• Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood

Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten Methods and Assessment

• Palsha, S. (October 2003) An outstanding education for ALL children: Learning from Reggio’s approach to inclusion. Post-conference workshop at the Annual Division of Early Childhood International Conference in Washington, DC. (Invited)

• October 2003-2004: Consultant on project IMPACT, a project to enhance personnel preparation of early childhood educators in rural NC.
• August 1998-May 2000: Project Director – North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Preschool Evaluation Project. Responsible for directing the two-year state funded grant at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.
• October 1993-May 1997: Co-Principal Investigator - Inclusion Partners: A Support Training Model.

• Guest Reviewer, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 1993, 1994, 2003, 2005
• Chapel Hill-Carrboro Head Start Advisory Committee - 2004-05
• Partners in Research, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Working on a small study with community early childhood professionals and FPG researchers to explore retention rates in NC’s Kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms and to determine alternative strategies used by school systems to assist children who are falling behind.

Early, D., Bushnell, M., Clifford, D. Konanc, E., Maxwell, K., Palsha, S. & Roberts, L. Kindergarten Readiness Issues Group, Partners in Research Forum (2003). North Carolina early grade retention in the age of accountability, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute.

Palsha, S. (2001). An outstanding education for ALL children: Learning from Reggio’s approach to inclusion. In Fu, V., Hill, L. & Stremmel, A. (Eds.) Teaching and Learning: Collaborative Exploration of the Reggio Emilia Approach, Merrill Prentice Hall.

Palsha, S. & Wesley, P. (1998). Improving quality in early childhood environments through on-site consultation. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18(4), 243-253.

Palsha, S., Wesley, P., Fenson, C. & Dennis, B. (1997). Improving the quality of early childhood environments through on-site consultation: A manual for consultants. Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Smith, C. (with contribution by Sharon Palsha). (1997). Children with "Special Rights" in the Schools and Centers of Reggio Emilia. In Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (Eds.) The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition, Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.