Proof

Using science to inform when and how we intervene
will change children’s lives

Layers of accumulated research from the past five decades has led to a solid understanding of how early experiences shape a child's developing mind.

Discover in the breakthrough section how the architecture of a healthy brain differs dramatically from one who has spent his or her first five years in an at risk environment.

Learn more in the bedrock section about peer-reviewed research and rigorous program evaluation, providing hard-core proof that high quality early childhood programs get results that last.

Resources

  • From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2000). Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development. Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips, eds Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

  • A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2007). A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy: Using Evidence to Improve Outcomes in Learning, Behavior, and Health for Vulnerable Children.

  • InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. In Brief: The Science of Early Childhood Development.The first in a series of three brief summaries of the scientific presentations at the National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy.