Linda M. Platas

Linda M. Platas is the chair of the Child and Adolescent Development Department at San Francisco State University. Her research in the United States focuses on early mathematical development, teacher education, and the formation and implementation of early childhood public policy. Her experience includes 14 years working directly with children and families as a teacher and director of an early childhood program. Internationally, Dr. Platas has worked on preschool and early primary grades population-level child assessment and classroom observation instruments. Her work with ministries of education of low-resource countries includes school readiness, curriculum development, early math and literacy assessments, and classroom quality measurement. She has participated as a math and literacy expert at international meetings of UNESCO, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank and other non-governmental organizations, and is a member of the expert panel that developed the Early Grades Math Assessment (EGMA) for USAID and the Technical Advisory Group for Child Development and Learning for UNESCO. Dr. Platas holds a PhD in education from University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in child and adolescent development/research and public policy from San Francisco State University.