Children at the Center

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Children at the Center provides a closely observed account of a decade-long effort to reshape the scope, direction, and quality of the Boston Public Schools' early childhood programs. The authors show how the district was able to work with and against the constraints of the current accountability system to create a high-quality, whole-child focused, and intellectually engaging program that has had a significant impact in narrowing income-based learning gaps. Written in collaboration with the Department of Early Childhood Education, this account of creating successful preK programs in a diverse urban district will provide a valuable resource for practitioners engaged in similar work across the country. "This is the book I've been waiting for. Children at the Center includes many voices expressing the importance of high-quality early learning and illustrating how it can be achieved. The Boston case study demonstrates the brilliance of the social justice framework that sustains the vision over time-and highlights the complexity of the dynamic, essential relationships with teachers, principals, community organizations, funders, politicians, and school administrators. After reading this book I am both inspired by possibilities and energized to pursue the transformations still required to best serve all of our children." --Valora Washington, CEO, Council for Professional Recognition "With joyful, purposeful activity as the core value and priority for children, teachers, and even the district's central office staff, the story of Boston Public Schools stands apart from the overarching tone of education reform across the country. Children at the Center presents a clear picture of how to navigate the false dichotomies of play versus rigor, and policy versus practice, not only in preK, but also in the primary grades." --Kristie A. Kauerz, director, National P-3 Center, University of Washington/University of Colorado Denver Betty Bardige is a developmental psychologist and an early childhood author, advocate, foundation leader, and consultant. Megina Baker is a researcher at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and part of the early childhood education faculty at Boston University. Ben Mardell is a principal investigator at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.