Arlene Paxton

Overview

Arlene R. Paxton serves as Senior Director of Infant Toddler Care and leads the Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) Regional Support Network. With more than 25 years of experience, she has dedicated her career to designing and advancing systems that support the professional development of early childhood educators who work with children from birth to age 3 and their families.

Paxton’s work focuses on strengthening the capacity and enhancing the quality of infant and toddler care through effective professional learning and technical assistance supports. Her recent accomplishments include significant contributions in the PITC Curriculum (2021) and the upcoming third editions of three PITC guides: Infant/Toddler Caregiving—A Guide to Routines, A Guide to Setting Up Environments, and A Guide to Creating Partnerships With Families (2025).   

Before joining WestEd, Paxton was responsible for the coordination and implementation of a citywide early literacy project initiated by the mayor’s office in Oakland, CA. Her understanding of the importance of the first 3 years of life aligned with the mayor’s initiative to support quality and intentional early learning experiences for the city’s youngest citizens. She also has several years of experience in teaching and programmatic leadership at Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Oakland, CA. 

Education

• Reggio Emilia Study Tour of Infant/Toddler Programs, Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2003  
• MA in human development, Pacific Oaks College  
• BA in child development, California State University, Humboldt 

Select Publications

Harkins, D., Lally, J. R., Mangione, P. L., Morabito, A., & Paxton, A. (2021). The PITC curriculum. WestEd. 

Lally, J. R., Mangione, P. L., Morabito, A., & Paxton, A. (2018, November). The essence of infant/toddler curriculum: PITC’s approach to infant and toddler initiated learning experiences [Presentation]. The National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference, Washington, DC, United States. 

Lally, J. R., Maguire-Fong, M. J., & Paxton, A. R. (2013). Reflective curriculum planning: A guide to implementation. Educare Learning Network; The Ounce; WestEd. 

Mangione ,P. L., Lally, J. R., Poole, J. L., Tuesta, A., & Paxton, A. R. (2011). Integrating resources and strategies into an emerging system of professional development: The case of PITC in California. Zero to Three, 11–17. 

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

Honors received include the WestEd Paul Hood Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Field, 2003.