This book tells stories of life in a ""failing"" school. These are insider stories of the daily lives of children and educators in an urban school during a time when accountability weighs heavy on both teachers and students. Most educators are in favor of accountability. The kind and amount of testing associated with the current accountability movement, however, influence teachers' and students' lives in a way not often apparent to parents and politicians.

Mandates to implement practices that are antithetical to what we embrace as supportive of young children's literacy learning are pervasive. Teachers of young children are asked to teach-to-the test in ways that take away opportunities for holistic, thoughtful, play-oriented practices that allow children to construct knowledge through contextualized and purposeful experiences. In 2009 the Early Childhood Assembly was formed by a group of early childhood educators to provide a home at the National Council for Teacher of English for all who work with young children. Perspectives and Provocations in Early Childhood Education is a publication of the ECEA. The publication is intended to support teachers of young children and those interested in studying about early literacy by putting on offer texts with a strong emphasis on promoting thoughtful practices that enhance the teaching and learning of young children within and across diverse communities. All royalties from the book go to the ECEA to help the organization advance its goals of providing scholarships for early childhood teachers to participate in conferences and professional development events.

A volume in Educational Leadership for Social Justice Series Editor Jeffrey S. Brooks, University of Idaho, Denise E. Armstrong, Brock University; Ira Bogotch, Florida Atlantic University; Sandra Harris, Lamar University; Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University; George Theoharis, Syracuse University While social identity challenges probably confront all school administrators, the authors focus on a doubly marginalized leadership population-Black female principals-whose experiences are rarely tapped. Based on lessons from this study and the literature reviewed, the authors think that leadership preparation programs should give prospective administrators opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills relevant to navigating their leadership identities. In the age of accountability, and with the pressures placed on the education system to ensure the success of all students, school leaders are under constant scrutiny. The appearance, speech, body language, and interactions of principals with students, parents, teachers, and community members are dissected. Stretching to satisfy expectations, many principals find themselves trying to conform to a predefined image. Work pressures like these prove immeasurably intense for many Black women. Society has subscribed to certain beliefs about different groups, and these beliefs affect the roles, responsibilities, and identities of the individuals. They can have a positive or negative influence. Many principals have created professional identities that they have fine-tuned and learned to steer. Trial and error has helped them learn identity-fitting techniques, while other principals may still be learning how to effectively manage people, address supporters and nonsupporters, and be politically savvy. Regardless of how they develop their identity, principals work toward inventing and branding themselves, fulfilling public identities (e.g., caregiver) and trying out new identities, such as commander-and-chief. Black female principals must navigate their identities as bicultural beings with different stakeholder groups and within work spaces that are traditionally geared to monocultural White males.

Thirty-six of the best thinkers on family and community engagement were assembled to produce this Handbook, and they come to the task with varied backgrounds and lines of endeavour. Each could write volumes on the topics they address in the Handbook, and quite a few have. The authors tell us what they know in plain language, succinctly presented in short chapters with practical suggestions for states, districts, and schools. The vignettes in the Handbook give us vivid pictures of the real life of parents, teachers, and kids. In all, their portrayal is one of optimism and celebration of the goodness that encompasses the diversity of families, schools, and communities across our nation.

This is a complete guide to supporting personal, social and emotional development in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), promoting a holistic approach and sharing good practice. "Personal, Social and Emotional Development" introduces this area of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to trainee and qualified early years professionals. The personal, social and emotional development of children aged between 0-5 years is introduced within the context of the EYFS. A balanced approach to the Early Learning Goals is encouraged ensuring that key principles of good early years practice are maintained and developed, and the holistic development of the child is promoted. This user-friendly guide will support early years professionals to: reflect on current practice and develop skills; evaluate the implications of research for early years practice and provision; promote interdisciplinary teamwork between those who work with and support young children; meet the diverse needs of children at different developmental stages and ages; and, support children as they move within and beyond the EYFS. This series introduces each of the six areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Language, Literacy and Communication; Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; Creative Development; and, Physical Development. Each book delivers accessible yet rigorous support for practitioners, whether training or qualified, in developing their professional understanding and practice in each of these Early Learning Goals. Whilst considering each area in turn, the aim throughout the series is to promote the holistic development of the child. Each volume includes: an introduction to the key area; consideration of the development of children in the key area from birth to 3 years; 3 to 5 years; and into 5 to 7 years; consideration of the holistic development of the child and the impact of that development on the key area being discussed; research evidence to support practice; practical examples of good practice; discussions on leadership in the key area; and, support in the development of pedagogical skills and reflective professional practice. In line with the aims of the EYFS, this series will help you in meeting the challenges that come with supporting the different needs of children, working in multi-professional partnerships, balancing the different areas of development, and supporting transitions within and beyond the EYFS.

If we expose students to a study of human suffering, we have a responsibility to guide them through it. But, is this the role of school history? Is the rationale behind teaching the Holocaust primarily historical, moral or social? Is the Holocaust to be taught as a historical event, with a view to developing students' critical historical skills, or as a tool to combat continuing prejudice and discrimination? These profound questions lie at the heart of Lucy Russell's fascinating analysis of teaching the Holocaust in school history. She considers how the topic of the Holocaust is currently being taught in schools in the UK and overseas. Drawing on interviews with educationalists, academics and teachers, she discovers that there is, in fact, a surprising lack of consensus regarding the purpose of, and approaches to, teaching the Holocaust in history. Indeed the majority view is distinctly non-historical; there is a tendency to teach the Holocaust from a social and moral perspective and not as history. This book attempts to explain and debate this phenomenon.

This book explores the many ways and opportunities in which men and women might work together to highlight creative ways as well as examine the role of men in schools, families, and community engagement. The book helps to broaden the group's "collective identity" of those who work with male teachers and caregivers by expanding an understanding of their experiences in order to better ways of collaboration. This book serves as a practical guide and resource to challenge the status quo in following our own intuition about our life's work as men and women in early childhood education. The central theme that is sought here is to remember the general purpose of education: to enlighten for multiple purposes and to ask the resounding questions of how do we best achieve this purpose as men and women working together without the confines of gender roles, especially as educators in early childhood and the general educational setting where gender roles are specific to men and women's perceived ways of caring, nurturing, providing, and educating future generations.

This edited book focuses on affordances and limitations of e-books for early language and literacy, features and design of e-books for early language and literacy, print versus e-books in early language and literacy development, and uses of and guidelines for how to use e-books in school and home literacy practices. Uniquely, this book includes critical reviews of diverse aspects of e-books (e.g., features) and e-book uses (e.g., independent reading) for early literacy as well as multiple examinations of e-books in home and school contexts using a variety of research methods and/or theoretical frames. The studies of children's engagement with diverse types of e-books in different social contexts provide readers with a contemporary and comprehensive understanding of this topic. Research has demonstrated that ever-increasing numbers of children use digital devices as part of their daily routine. Yet, despite children's frequent use of e-books from an early age, there is a limited understanding regarding how those e-books are actually being used at home and school. As more e-books become available, it is important to examine the educational benefits and limitations of different types of e-books for children. So far, studies on the topic have presented inconsistent findings regarding potential benefits and limitations of e-books for early literacy activities (e.g., independent reading, shared reading). The studies in this book aim to fill such gaps in the literature.

In 1991, Dr. Lorraine Monroe founded the Frederick Douglass Academy, a public school in Harlem, in the belief that caring instructors, a disciplined but creative environment, and a refusal to accept mediocrity could transform the lives of inner-city kids. Her experiment was a huge success. Today the Academy is one of the finest schools in the country, sending graduates to Ivy League colleges and registering the third highest SAT scores in New York City. The key to its success: a unique leadership method Monroe calls the "Monroe Doctrine," which she developed through decades as a teacher and principal in some of America's toughest schools. In this book Monroe tells her own remarkable story and explains her "Doctrine" through pithy, memorable rules and observations and a host of wonderful true stories. This is an inspiring read for both new and experienced educators--and for anyone who wants to succeed in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

Taking military charter schools as her subject, and drawing on years of research at one school in particular, Brooke Johnson explores the underpinings of a culture based on militarization and neoliberal educational reforms and probes its effects on individual identity and social interactions at the school.

An examination of teachers in early childhood settings. Areas covered include: factors that impact on teacher quality; transformative pathways in becoming an early childhood teacher; Sensei - early childhood education teachers in Japan; and beliefs of early childhood teachers.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985.

This volume explores early childhood education policies and practices in the Caribbean. Early childhood development has gained increasing importance as part of national agendas to achieve social and economic goals. Regional guidelines and action plans have been developed, but progress across nations varies. Chapters in the book analyze child policies and issues, critically examine progress on alignment between policies and practices, and propose recommendations for advocacy and implementation that may advance the early childhood development agenda throughout the Caribbean. The book includes the perspectives of early childhood practitioners, policymakers, caregivers, representatives from family agencies as well as other key stakeholders in the education of young children. Across these diverse viewpoints is a shared commitment to children's well being and the necessity of an integrated response that captures the challenges and opportunities of early childhood development services and initiatives that are framed based on contextual relevance and cultural appropriateness. Part One includes chapters that advocate for national policies throughout the Caribbean to support young children. Chapters in Part Two call for quality early childhood programming that is based on the tenets of developmentally appropriate practice. Part Three considers the pedagogical dilemmas that arise in math and literacy when schools negate purposeful and engaging early childhood curriculum. Part Four presents various perspectives on child protection and the necessary infrastructure of policies and practices to ensure cognitive, social, and physical development of young children in the Caribbean. This important resource promotes critical discourse on the current status of children and efforts that have been developed to effectively advocate for the rights of the young.

An up-to-date, authoritative and accessible exploration of the knowledge and skills necessary to be an effective teacher of secondary physical education. The central theme of the book is the promotion of learning, and the selection of content has been designed to ensure coverage of the theoretical and practical aspects of effective teaching for learning. Each chapter includes directed activities encouraging critical and active engagement with the text. 'Learning More' sections direct readers to further sources of guidance, web resources and key texts. Essential reading for those studying physical education at undergraduate and postgraduate level. >

Based on extended, intensive fieldwork in an Australian high school, Challenging the System illuminates issues faced on a daily basis by teachers and educational administrators in many parts of the world. Forsey highlights the tensions arising between neo-liberal emphasis on individual school communities as the engine for competitive excellence in education, and the need for those responsible for running public education to maintain some degree of equity across the whole system. He shows that reforms based purely on market forces are not only undesirable, they are imposible to achieve. Governments do not want to lose control of highly significant cultural and political

Widespread obesity, poor nutrition, sleep-deprivation, and highly digital and sedentary lifestyles are just a few of the many challenges facing young people. Although public schools in the United States have the potential for meeting these challenges on a mass scale, they are slow to respond. The emphasis on discrete subject areas and standardized test performance offers little in the way of authentic learning and may in reality impede health. Healthy Teens, Healthy Schools: How Media Literacy Education can Renew Education in the United States reframes health education as a complex terrain that resides within a larger ecosystem of historical, social, political, and global economic forces. It calls for a media literate pedagogy that empowers students to be critical consumers, creative producers, and responsible citizens. This book illustrates holistic health education through school-community initiatives and innovative partnerships that are successful in magnifying all curriculum subjects and their associated teaching practices. Vanessa Domine offers teachers, teacher educators, school administrators, community organizers, public health professionals, and policy makers with a transmedia and transdisciplinary educational approach to adolescent health to demonstrate how our collective focus on cultivating healthy teens will ultimately yield healthy schools.

Catholic high schools in the United States have been undergoing three major changes: the shift to primarily lay leadership and teachers; the transition to a more consumerist and pluralist culture; and the increasing diversity of students attending Catholic high schools. James Heft argues that to navigate these changes successfully, leaders of Catholic education need to inform lay teachers more thoroughly, conduct a more profound social analysis of the culture, and address the real needs of students.
After presenting the history of Catholic schools in the United States and describing the major legal decisions that have influenced their evolution, Heft describes the distinctive and compelling mission of a Catholic high school. Two chapters are devoted to leadership, and other chapters to teachers, students, alternative models of high schools, financing, and the key role of parents, who today may be described as ''post-deferential'' to traditional authorities, including bishops and priests.
Written by an award-winning teacher, scholar, and recognized educational leader in Catholic education, Catholic High Schools should be read by everyone interested in religiously- affiliated educational institutions, particularly Catholic education.