The rapidly moving frontiers of neuroscience, molecular biology, and epigenetics--combined with extensive research in the behavioral and social sciences--are dramatically expanding our understanding of how children develop, how that process can be disrupted, how to get it back on track when it does get derailed, and how to keep it from going off…

This is the executive summary for the report, "From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families." Early childhood is a time of great promise and rapid change, when the architecture of the developing brain is most open to the influence of…

For the past decade, a diverse group of distinguished scientists has worked to translate complex research about early brain development into language that is scientifically accurate, highly credible, understandable to nonscientists, and useful to public decision makers. Across the United States and around the world, in both public and private…

Despite a robust body of evidence of effectiveness of social programs, few evidence-based programs have been scaled for population-level improvement in social problems. Since 2010 the federal government has invested in evidence-based social policy by supporting a number of new evidence-based programs and grant initiatives. These initiatives…

The creation of this document has been driven by an intensive review process by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs to assure the credibility of its scientific content. Over the past 12 years, the Council's ongoing work to bring science to bear on public policies for…

These are the key findings from the "From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families". Early childhood is a time of great promise and rapid change, when the architecture of the developing brain is most open to the influences of relationships and…

Researchers and practitioners both have important roles to play in the study and understanding of early childhood development. However, the cultures of the different professional fields can lead to a gap in what we know and what we do to promote healthy child development. The evidence-based practice movement in the early childhood field provides…

The National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education (ECI) was established by the U.S. Department of Education to carry out a comprehensive program of research, development, and dissemination to improve young children's learning and development. This directory contains information on the programs and projects funded by ECI in fiscal…

The National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education (ECI) was established to carry out a comprehensive program of research, development, and dissemination to improve young children's learning and development. This directory contains information on the programs and projects funded by ECI in fiscal year 1998. The directory's 10…

Reviews research that uses autonomic responses of human infants as dependent measures. Focuses on the history of research on the autonomic nervous system, measurement issues, and autonomic correlates of infant behavior and systems. (RJC)

Discusses important recent strides in the documentation and understanding of the infant's learning and memory capacity. Focuses on the psychobiology of learning, hedonic mediation of approach-avoidance and learned behavior, infant memory, and critical conditions of infancy and behavioral misadventures. (RJC)

Examines historical and contemporary linkages between Black children and social policy. Focuses on: contributions of Black children; the obscurity of Black children in social policy; cultural diversity and policy implementation; and prospects for the future. (RJC)

Offers a rationale for and overview of contextual factors that influence the play and developmental outcomes of preschool children with disabilities. Research on play is discussed relative to child, program, family, and measurement characteristics that can influence play/developmental outcomes. (DB)

Developmental Science aims to generate a new body of knowledge that encompasses and integrates findings from various well-defined academic disciplines concerned with developmental processes of human and non-human organisms. Although all development related research traditions surely have their own distinct history, certain theoretical ideas…

Considers the role of the Committee on Child Development, the organizational nature and function of the Society, and the influence of publications and individuals during the first 25 years' of the Society for Research in Child Development in light of the Depression, World War II, and financial problems. (BB)