FirstSchool is a groundbreaking framework for teaching minority and low-income children. This work discusses the research and practice to date that defines "FirstSchool" as a critical approach to closing the achievement and opportunity gaps. Changing the conversation from improving test scores to improving school experiences, it features lessons learned from eight elementary schools whose leadership and staff implemented sustainable changes in their classrooms and schools. The authors detail how to use education research and data to provide a rationale for change; how to promote professional learning that is genuinely collaborative and respectful; and how to employ developmentally appropriate teaching strategies that focus on the needs of minority and low-income children. Book Features: Case studies illustrating developmentally appropriate practices that can be applied across varied PreK-3 contexts. Key principles used by FirstSchool and its partners to reinvigorate the professionalism of teachers. Concrete guidance for choosing and using relevant data, enriching the curriculum, improving instruction, and developing home-school partnerships.

The authors draw on their experiences as a developmental psychologist and as a teacher educator to provide ways for teachers to create positive child-teacher relationships and classroom climates. This forward-looking volume applies attachment theory to child-teacher relationships...explores strategies that teachers can use to foster positive student behavior...provides narrative examples from early childhood classrooms serving primarily low-income children of color...and uses stories from exemplary classrooms as well as those in which teachers are struggling with relationships.

Hands On, Minds On describes the importance of children's foundational cognitive skills for academic achievement in literacy and mathematics, as well as their connections with other areas of school readiness, including physical health and social and emotional development. It also examines the growing evidence in favor of guided object play.