Elements of Success 1: Structural Options outlines the range of current children's cabinet and council structures in place and offers tips and warnings for getting the most effective structure in place. This issue brief builds heavily on interviews conducted by the Forum and on the detailed documentation work done by Susan Robison for the National…

We review what is known about Head Start's impacts on children and argue that the program is likely to generate benefits to participants and society as a whole that are larger than program costs. Our conclusions differ from those in some previous reviews because we use a more appropriate standard to judge program effectiveness (benefit-cost…

This paper argues that young Hispanic (or Latina/o) children (ages 3 to 8 years) should be of particular interest to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in education. Young Hispanic children constitute an urgent demographic imperative. Young Hispanic children are not only the largest racial/ethnic group in the U.S., but also the youngest…

The "Coordinators' Notebook" is a twice-annual publication of the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development. This issue summarizes some important information about early childhood care and development (ECCD); shares case studies of effective examples of ECCD; helps ECCD advocates think through what they may need to do…

Portions of this paper were presented at a research briefing, sponsored by the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. Results are presented from evaluations of several early intervention programs, all of which provided high quality, center-based early childhood education and…

More than 10 million children from birth through age six in the US live in low-income families. Although large investments in early childhood intervention programs are evident, is the field fully exploiting its potential to address the diverse needs of children and families? One means of addressing this question is to focus on the efficacy of…

This issue of "The Link" newsletter contains the following articles: (1) "Youth in Foster Care Who Commit Delinquent Acts: Study Findings and Recommendations" (Leslee Morris); (2) "Director's Message" (Christy Sharp); (3) "Juvenile Justice News and Resources"; (4) "The Nurse-Family Partnership:…

Over the past 30 years, the rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2 to 5 years and adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, and it has more than tripled for children 6 to 11 years of age (Institute of Medicine, 2005). At present, approximately 9 million children over 6 years are considered obese (Institute of…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue features articles drawn from four of the conference papers presented at the September 2007 IRP…

The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 crystallized the concern for accountability in education. National testing was mandated as a way to improve the "broken" educational system. Publicly funded early education programs were not spared from such testing. While the positive effects of high-quality early education on children's…