Areas of Expertise: Quality Monitoring, Compliance Monitoring, Monitoring Technology and Systems Development, Assessment Development and Analysis, Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Instruction and Professional Development

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Laura Abbruzzese serves as the Vander Weele Group’s Program Manager for Early Childhood Education Monitoring. Since joining the firm in 2020, Laura has led the creation and day-to-day management of early childhood monitoring initiatives in Illinois and Arizona. Under her direction, the monitoring team provides oversight to home visiting and center-based early childhood programs serving more than 13,000 children. She is a passionate advocate for enhancing monitoring programs using data-driven process improvement frameworks and innovative technology solutions. Laura’s forward-thinking leadership and drive to address systemic gaps empowers clients to go beyond ensuring basic compliance and focus on maximizing the impact of state and Federal grant programs.

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Laura’s expertise is rooted in nearly a decade of experience in quality and compliance monitoring and assessment development, and fifteen years in early childhood professional development and instruction. Her past work includes early childhood service assessment, classroom and curriculum design and implementation, language and literacy development, data analysis, and research-based instruction. Prior to joining the Vander Weele Group, she served as a Prevention Initiative monitor for the Erikson Institute, an early literacy specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, and an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapist for the LaGrange Area Department of Special Education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Roosevelt University and a master’s of science in early childhood development from the Erikson Institute.