Rosa Milagros Santos
NAEYCNEWS
Member Spotlight
Four Members Reflect on What NAEYC Means to Them
Editors’ Note
In celebration of NAEYC’ s 100th anniversary, we revisited early childhood professionals whose contributions to the field were highlighted in past issues of NAEYC periodicals. Where, we wondered, have their careers taken them? What changes have they observed in the profession? What role has NAEYC played, and how do they view our centennial year?
The following reflections represent a variety of roles and geographic locales: A higher education faculty member in Illinois; a center director in Miami; a family child care educator in California; and a public school kindergarten teacher in Washington, DC. Each brings perspectives based on their unique settings, with NAEYC as the underpinning of their work.
Rosa Milagros Santos
Associate provost for faculty affairs University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign County, Illinois September 2016 Member Spotlight
“ You can’ t think about early childhood without thinking about NAEYC.”
Rosa Milagros Santos was highlighted in Young Children’ s first Member Spotlight. At that time, she was a professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and she leaned heavily on NAEYC publications in her work with preservice teachers.“ Young Children was something I used a lot in my courses, for readings and references and to build upon other research work that we did. I also used the books, particularly Developmentally Appropriate Practice. It’ s a good foundation for teacher preparation: It helps new teachers understand what they need to know and then build off of that.”
Today, Rosa supports more than 3,000 assistant, associate, and full professors in their career arcs. This includes guiding them in the current federal landscape.“ I’ m thinking about how we are going to continue supporting faculty and enabling them to thrive and do the good work that they do.”
How I came to NAEYC: I joined NAEYC in 1997. I had just completed my PhD and was a member
86 Young Children
Spring 2026