Educating Young Children in WPA Nursery Schools, the first full-length national study of the WPA nursery school program, helps to explain why universal preschool remains an elusive goal. This book argues that program success in operating nursery schools throughout the United States during the Great Depression was an important New Deal achievement. By highlighting the program’s strengths—its ideals, its curriculum, and its community outreach—the author offers a blueprint for creating a universal preschool program that benefits both children and their families. This volume uncovers the forgotten perspective of WPA nursery school leaders and highlights the program’s innovative curriculum for young children by incorporating both extensive archival research and neglected sources.

Few episodes in American history were more transformative than World War II, and in no region did it bring greater change than in the West. Having lifted the United States out of the Great Depression, World War II set in motion a massive westward population movement, ignited a quarter-century boom that redefined the West as the nation's most economically dynamic region, and triggered unprecedented public investment in manufacturing, education, scientific research, and infrastructure—an economic revolution that would lay the groundwork for prodigiously innovative high-tech centers in Silicon Valley, the Puget Sound area, and elsewhere. Amidst robust economic growth and widely shared prosperity in the post-war decades, Westerners made significant strides toward greater racial and gender equality, even as they struggled to manage the environmental consequences of their region's surging vitality. At the same time, wartime policies that facilitated the federal withdrawal of Western public lands and the occupation of Pacific islands for military use continued an ongoing project of U.S. expansionism at home and abroad. This volume explores the lasting consequences of a pivotal chapter in U.S. history, and offers new categories for understanding the post-war West. Contributors to this volume include Mark Brilliant, Geraldo L. Cadava, Matthew Dallek, Mary L. Dudziak, Jared Farmer, David M. Kennedy, Daniel J. Kevles, Rebecca Jo Plant, Gavin Wright, and Richard White.

Education and the Great Depression: Lessons from a Global History examines the history of schools in terms of pedagogies, curricula, policies, and practices at the point of intersection with worldwide patterns of economic crisis, political instability, and social transformation. Examining the Great Depression in the historical contexts of Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Brazil, and New Zealand and in the regional contexts of the United States, including Virginia, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, and South Carolina, this collection broadens our understanding of the scope of this crisis while also locating more familiar American examples in a global framework.

Multifaceted Assessment in Early Childhood is ideal for those on upper-division undergraduate courses and first-level graduate courses in early childhood education assessment. The book covers the various measures used in a range of assessment dimensions, and includes valuable information regarding young children with special needs and English Language Learners, which has rarely been touched upon in other textbooks. The chapters are focused on student accessibility and include practical applications of key concepts. Features and benefits: Covers a range of assessment concepts, including - Formative (uses feedback from learning to adapt teaching) -Summative (i.e. tests, quizzes) -Authentic (focuses on complex/deeper tasks) -Standardized (STAR, SAT) Includes coverage of assessment for English language learners and children with special needs -- topics that are not provided enough coverage in other books (including Wortham, McAfee, Puckett and Mindes). Wright's writing style grabs and engages the reader in the topic. Two of our reviewers who use Wortham specifically cited Wright's writing style as a reason they would adopt our book. A McAfee reviewer is likely to switch for the same reason.

This book provides theoretical and empirical discussions around the impact of MOOCs and other pedagogical strategies for online learning in international contexts. Through discussions of inverse blended learning and other teaching and learning approaches, Part I navigates the pressing conceptual issues around global online education. By analyzing the Malaysia MOOC Initiative—the first governmental MOOC project in the world—Part II offers insight into the developmental strategies, learning design, and integrative approaches of these pioneering efforts. Edited by leading scholars in the field of globalized online learning, this volume offers a valuable contribution to research around collaborative initiatives between governments and universities, especially ones dedicated to open and distance education.

History of Early Childhood Education presents a thorough and elegant description of the history of early childhood education in the United States. This book of original research is a concise compendium of historical literature, combining history with the prominent and influential theoretical background of the time. Covering historical threads that reach from ancient Greece and Rome to the early childhood education programs of today, this in-depth and well-written volume captures the deep tradition and the creative knowledge base of early care and education. History of Early Childhood Education is an essential resource for every early childhood education scholar, student, and educator.