Spotlight on Young Children: Equity and Diversity

Cristina Gillanders, PhD, is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at University of Colorado Denver. She has been involved in the field of early childhood for more than 20 years as a bilingual early childhood teacher, director of an early childhood program, teacher educator, and researcher. Her expertise is centered on young Latino emergent literacy, bilingualism, early childhood teaching practices for Latino dual language learners, and minority parents’ beliefs and practices related to young children’s learning and development.Rossella Procopio is an editor in Books and Related Resources at NAEYC.

• Introduction/Cristina Gillanders“The Gifts of the Stranger: Learning From Others’ Differences”/S. Bernheimer & E. Jones“Moving Beyond Anti-Bias Activities”/L.P. Kuh, D. LeeKeenan, H. Given, & M.R. Beneke+Sidebar: Text except from Anti-Biased Education for Young Children and Ourselves highlighting the four core goals of anti-bias education/L. Derman-Sparks & J.O. Edwards“Capitalizing on Culture: Engaging Young Learners in Diverse Classrooms”/T.C. Howard+Sidebar: “A Reason for Hope: Building Teachers’ Cultural Capital”/ M. Sykes“Addressing the African American Achievement Gap: Three Leading Educators Issue a Call to Action”/B.T. Bowman, JP. Comer, & D.J. Johns“Voices of Immigrant Parents in Preschool Settings”/J.K. Adair & A. Barraza+Sidebar: Text excerpt from “Collaborating With Refugee Resettlement Organizations: Providing a Head Start to Young Refugees”/L. Morland & T. Levine+Sidebar: Text excerpt from “Teaching Young Children From Immigrant and Diverse Families”/M. Souto-Manning“Reading Books, Writing Books: Reading and Writing Come Together in a Dual Language Classroom”/P. Pilonieta, P.L. Shue, & B.T. Kissel“Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families”/K. Cole & D. Verwayne+Sidebar: Text excerpt from “Reading Your Way to a Culturally Responsive Classroom”/S.B. Wanless & P.A. Crawford“Supporting Gay and Lesbian Families in the Early Childhood Classroom”/ A.P. Peixoto da Silva“Developing Biliteracy With International Support: Using Interactive World Walls and Paired Learning”/I. Alanís, I. Salinas-Gonzalez, & María G. Arreguín-Anderson+Sidebar: text excerpt from “The Brain Science of Bilingualism”/N.F. Ramirez & P. Kuhl“Tate and the Pink Coat: Exploring Gender and Enacting Anti-Bias Principles in Practice”/J. Kroeger, A. Recker, & A. Gunn“Building a More Inclusive Sandbox: Inviting New Collaborators to Support Children, Families, and Early Learning”/T. DosRemedios“Research to Practice: New Research on Helping Young Children Develop Positive Racial Identities”/I.E. Murray & A. Alvarez