Americans choose from a dizzying array of schools, loosely categorized as "public" and "private." How did these distinctions emerge, and what do they tell us about the relationship in the United States between public authority and private enterprise? Challenged by the rise of Catholic and other parochial schools in the nineteenth century, states sought to protect the public school monopoly through regulation. Ultimately, however, Robert N. Gross shows how the public policies that resulted produced a stable educational marketplace, where choice flourished.

The dragon's out of the bag in this diverse, young urban fantasy from an award-winning author! When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother--but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don't let them out of the bag, and don't feed them anything sweet. Before he knows it, Jax and his friends Vikram and Kavita have broken both rules! Will Jax get the baby dragons delivered safe and sound? Or will they be lost in Brooklyn forever? AN ALA-ALSC NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR The Dragons in a Bag series continues! Don't miss The Dragon Thief, and The Witch's Apprentice.

To counteract the prevalence of childhood obesity and to establish lifelong healthy eating habits, this research-based early childhood curriculum is designed to increase children’s preferences for nutritious fruits and vegetables. The tested “seed-to-table” approach will engage preschoolers in all aspects of planting, growing, and eating organically grown foods. Also included are recipes children can help prepare and ways to involve the whole family in making healthy food choices. These activities can be tailored to fit any early childhood program, climate, or geographical region.

Ready or Not made its mark in 2007 by boldly calling for a field-wide response to the question: “What defines and bounds early care and education as a field of practice?” A dozen years later, this question remains pivotal to the field’s understanding of its present and its aspirations for the future. In this updated and expanded edition, Goffin and Washington reunite to examine the major issues that must still be addressed if children are to be given more and better opportunities. This second edition will help everyone whose work impacts the ECE workforce, including those working directly with children, to deepen their commitment to adaptive and systems work and to develop the leadership capacity needed to become change agents. Ready or not, early childhood education needs to tackle its adaptive challenges. Nothing less will enable it to shift the field’s developmental trajectory, fulfill its potential, and satisfy its obligations to children, families, and society. “The second edition of Ready or Not is a reflective self-examination of the field of early care and education. It is a must-read book.” —Marquita Furness Davis, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “Goffin and Washington boldly identify the barriers and opportunities we face.” —Anne Douglass, University of Massachusetts Boston “A must-read for those that are invested in early care and education.” —Tracy Ehlert, State Representative for Iowa House District 70, Cedar Rapids, IA “A must-read for everyone who is committed to the field’s success.” —Ariel Ford, Office of Early Learning, City of Chattanooga

The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987, it has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.