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…

Physical Education is a core component of the primary school curriculum. The primary years are perhaps the most significant period for motor development in children, a time during which basic movement competencies are developed and which offers the first opportunity for embedding physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. This is the first…

This collection of essays reflects the notion that perceptions of children and childhood shape approaches to education and child rearing. The essays include: (1) "The Child Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow," on how children have been regarded throughout recorded history; (2) "Piaget and Montessori in the Classroom," examining the…

This issue of Occasional Papers began as a Graduate School seminar honoring Steven Schultz, a much beloved and respected faculty member whose untimely death from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses left a terrible hole in the lives of Bank Street staff members. The seminar, organized by Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Virginia Casper, a close friend…

This sourcebook contains articles, resources, and sample teaching materials to assist practitioners implementing developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The first six parts of the sourcebook contain reprints of more than 40 journal articles, topical bibliographies and resource lists, and sample teaching materials. The topics of…

The purpose of this book is to operationalize--that is, make meaningful--the Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment, developed jointly by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAESC/SDE) in 1991. The…

The purpose of this publication, which is addressed to a variety of audiences including educators, parents, legislators, school board members, members of the press, and voters in general, is to persuade the reader to help stop achievement and readiness testing in kindergarten and first and second grades and to rethink current educational goals and…

Based on the experiences of teachers, principals, and parents involved in the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), this book is a collection of accounts and reflections by teachers or administrators who have engaged in developing and implementing nongraded primary education programs. The articles in this book are: (1) "Reforming the…