African American Children in Early Childhood Education: Making the Case for Policy Investments in Families, Schools, and Communities

    This book presents both the challenges and opportunities that exist for addressing the critical needs of black children, who have been historically underserved in the U.S. education system. It explores the language, cognitive, social-emotional, and health development of black children from birth to age 8. The chapters approach this in three ways; first, they tackle why it is problematic to only characterize Black children's accomplishment in terms of "academic achievement." Second, they discuss the importance of the home-school environment connection. Lastly, they discuss the changes that need to be in teacher preparation in order to ensure that the workforce can practice racial equity in the classroom.