Putting the Children First: The Changing Face of Newark's Public Schools

Putting the Children First chronicles the educational struggle that took place in the city of Newark amidst years of political upheaval and economic neglect. It is a story of inspiration and hope as we come to understand what happened when educators, parents, and community members pulled together to turn education around in one of the most historically troubled cities in America.

This volume tells the remarkable story of Project New Beginnings, a 7-year collaboration between the Newark Public Schools and Bank Street College to restructure early childhood education. Reporting from the front lines of urban schools, this important volume:

• Gives voice to the variety of people involved in effective school reform―teachers, principals, staff developers, superintendents, and foundation executives.
• Illustrates how one school-change project kept its focus on the needs of individual teachers and classrooms while negotiating the many demands in contemporary urban schools.
• Confronts the difficult constraints and many hurdles the project overcame to emerge as a model for school-university collaboration.

Jonathan G. Silin is Co-Director of Research for Project New Beginnings and a member of the graduate faculty, Bank Street College of Education. Carol Lippman has been the Director of Bank Street’s Project New Beginnings since its inception in 1996.