Deb Lawrence
Delaware County Community College , Media, PA; President, IPA USA Associate Professor
Media PA
"Debra L. Lawrence has over 45 years of experience in early care and education. While living in Germany, she began her early childhood career as an aide in a Department of Defense Kindergarten classroom. When her family returned to the States, Debra started as a sub at a local childcare program and progressed to a teacher, lead teacher, and then Director. She directed programs for 13.5 years, taught kindergarten, and then became the executive Director of a childcare resource and referral agency responsible for five counties in Colorado. As Executive Director, she advocated for early care and education, provided grants to improve the quality of childcare, conducted professional development for the childcare community, and linked families with childcare in the five-county region. In Pennsylvania, Debra was the Director of the Southeast Regional Key. Each regional key is the operations hub for Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, Keystone STARS. Debra is a tenured faculty member at Delaware County Community College, where she teaches a nationally accredited associate of arts degree in early childhood education that transfers to the Pennsylvania Teacher Certification at four-year universities.
She has presented workshops and seminars at the international, national, state, and local level. Debra’s leadership positions include Colorado AEYC President, A Governor-appointed Early Childhood School Readiness Legislative Committee member, and a NAEYC Governing Board Member. Debra is currently the President of the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play, the International Play Association, USA affiliate, IPA USA
She is the author of How Public Investment Contributes to High-Quality Early Childhood Programs, Lessons from Pennsylvania, and contributed to Learning from Head Start. In addition, she has a chapter on Bronfenbrenner and play in the publication Scholarly Snapshots and two chapters in the publication, Learning from Head Start. She is the recipient of numerous awards. She recently received the National Association for the Education of Young Children Ed Klugman Lifetime Achievement Award as an Advocate for Play and the Delaware County Community College President’s Award for Excellence.
Debra holds a bachelor’s degree in social research, social structure, and social change, a master’s degree in early childhood education, and a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education.
Her research interests include curriculum and environments that strengthen learning dispositions, play as the foundation of all curricula, and positive and supportive environments that foster children’s ability to reach their potential.
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https://dccc.edu/about/faculty-staff/meet-our-faculty/debra-lawrence
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