Jacqueline Goodway began her research career over 35 years ago at Michigan State University, after coming to MSU from England. While completing her doctoral degree, she joined a College of Education initiative as a graduate assistant working in Flint Public Schools. Little did she know, this experience would change the course of her life’s work.
Originally seeking to research sports injuries in youth gymnastics, Goodway observed many young children in Flint were not developing the necessary physical movement and motor skills required in a child’s first years. These skills are the key physical and muscle movements children must develop for both an active life and everyday function.
As there was no programming for early childhood motor skill intervention, Goodway founded the Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers, or SKIP. Becoming one of the first researchers to pursue this type of intervention, the SKIP framework has been used by researchers across the world to boost motor skill development.