This book brings together a group of extraordinary educators and scholars who offer important insights about what we can do to defend childhood from societal challenges. The authors explain new findings from neuroscience and psychology, as well as emerging knowledge about the impact on child development of cultural and linguistic diversity, poverty, families and communities, and the media. Each chapter presents experiences and suggestions, from the perspectives of different disciplines, about what can be done to ensure that all children gain access to the supports they need for optimal physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development. "Defending Childhood" features: (1) New knowledge about how children learn from the neurobiological, behavioral, and social sciences; (2) Effective teaching strategies that support learning and provide for the needs of the whole child; (3) Examination of a broad range of issues that affect childhood, including violence, media and technology saturation, and a school culture of endless testing; (4) Suggestions for policies and practices for an equitable educational system. [Foreword by Linda Darling-Hammond.]