Jane Wagner has worked at the University of Oregon since 1985 in a variety of positions. She was a classroom teacher in one the first early intervention programs and helped to expand the program to include children without disabilities. In 1992, the College of Education in collaboration with human resources, received funding to build the Vivian Olum Center. Ms. Wagner worked with the committee for building design and was involved in planning and implementing the program. She was the director there for 8 years. In 2001, she joined the staff of Early Childhood CARES as an Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Specialist. She retired from Early Childhood CARES in 2017. Since her retirement Ms. Wagner has continued to work part time at Early Childhood CARES and is also a practicum supervisor in the College of Education Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Program.

Ms. Wagner’s interest has always been young children and how they learn. She began her work with young children at Lane Community College, completing an AA degree in 1974. She was the head teacher there for 7 years. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and in 1999, she completed work for a master’s degree in Early Intervention. Her area of focus has been in constructivist education and its relationship to special education goals and values. She has published several articles in Young Children, a National Association for the Education of Young Children publication.