Early Childhood Experiences in Language Arts

Alison Zimbalist's experience in early childhood education has primarily focused on professional development, mentorship, school leadership and curriculum development. She is the former director of Early Childhood Services at the Macks Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore, where she oversaw the professional learning opportunities and provided licensing and best practices guidance for the city's 19 Jewish preschools. She led several communities of practice to strengthen skills and leadership among multiple groups: center directors, assistant directors, teacher-leaders, new educators and educators interested in specific methodologies, topics and practices. She also managed a creative reuse center and hosted hands-on workshops for educators, as well as oversaw an experiential play-space for parents and children. In addition, Zimbalist was the curriculum consultant for PJ Goes to School, Grades K-2, providing literacy-based curriculum and professional learning for teachers nationwide. Prior to that, she founded and co-directed a private preschool in Montebello, New York. Her roots in education began in the mid-1990s in the high school English classroom, where she taught for four years before moving into the curriculum development realm, working as the founding education specialist for the New York Times Learning Network and eventually becoming the education editor and product manager at NYTimes.com. Zimbalist has been a content developer for Scholastic, Insight Education Group, Carnegie Learning, LearnZillion and Public Consulting Group Inc., where she served as a lead writer on the Grade 10 English Language Arts team for the Chicago Public Schools Curriculum Equity Initiative, the central curriculum used in the nation's third largest school district, launched in August 2021. She earned a B.A. in English and a master's in education from Emory University.