Improving the Odds for America's Children: Future Directions in Policy and Practice

"In Improving the Odds for America's Children, edited by McCartney (president, Smith College), Yoshikawa (New York Univ.), and Forcier (Harvard Graduate School of Education), the importance of investing in the future of the US by investing in the most vulnerable resource--the children--is superbly and clearly substantiated through the groundwork of scientifically based research and evidence-based practices...This collection of essays on the critical issues facing America's children is a mustread for educators, child and family advocates, and policy makers at all levels." -- B. A. Perrachione, CHOICE Connect

This landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children's Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances - and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines critical issues - prenatal and infant health and development, early childcare and education, school reform, the achievement gap, vulnerable children, juvenile justice, and child poverty - and highlights crucial practical and policy measures we need to consider and undertake if we are to better serve American children. An invaluable survey of the conditions facing American youth - and a call to action at the local, state, and national levels - Improving the Odds for America's Children is an urgent, informative, and inspired volume that addresses shortcomings and challenges we cannot afford to ignore.