Janeen McCracken Taylor, Ph.D.
Dr. Taylor started working with children who were disabled when she was 16 years old and an employee of the Maryland Parks and Recreation Department. After earning a degree in physical education from the University of Maryland in 1968, she taught young men with disabilities in Raleigh, North Carolina. A move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought time to study for an M.S. degree in Special Education, which led to her first job as a preschool special education teacher. For 10 years, Dr. Taylor taught children from birth to 5 years of age and started the first family education program at her school. She earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of New Mexico while a research assistant at the Parent Involvement Center there. After graduation, Dr. Taylor moved to Maryland and became the Maryland State Department of Education's specialist for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs. She then spent 3 years at George Washington University directing a post-masters program. The next 5–6 years were spent at the Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program coordinating higher education efforts on behalf of young children with disabilities. In 1993, Dr. Taylor accepted a faculty position at The Johns Hopkins University in what is now the College of Education and coordinated early childhood special education teacher preparation until her retirement in 2006. She is currently consulting, writing, and traveling.