Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. The environments, supports, and relationships young children experience have profound effects, and they thrive when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Our reports explore the current state of care and education for young children, and offer recommendations to build upon existing strategies and programs.
Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, …
Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education
High-quality early care and education for children from birth to kindergarten entry is critical to positive child development and has the potential to generate economic returns, which benefit not only children and their families but society at large. Despite the great promise of early care and …
Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the family—which includes all primary caregivers—are at the foundation of children’s well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers …
Experts from the health and the early childhood care and education (ECE) fields gathered on September 14, 2017, in New York City at a workshop hosted by the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement. The workshop presentations and discussion focused on the evidence base at the intersection of …
In January 2014, the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, in collaboration with the IOM Board on Global Health, launched the Forum on Investing in Young Children Globally. At this meeting, the participants agreed to focus on …
Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures
Educating dual language learners (DLLs) and English learners (ELs) effectively is a national challenge with consequences both for individuals and for American society. Despite their linguistic, cognitive, and social potential, many ELs—who account for more than 9 percent of enrollment in …
Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity
Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children’s present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal …
Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How
The assessment of young children’s development and learning has recently taken on new importance. Private and government organizations are developing programs to enhance the school readiness of all young children, especially children from economically disadvantaged homes and communities and …
Strengthening Benefit-Cost Analysis for Early Childhood Interventions: Workshop Summary
The deficiencies that many children experience from birth to school age–in health care, nutrition, emotional support, and intellectual stimulation, for example–play a major role in academic achievement gaps that persist for years, as well as in behavior and other problems. There are many …
From Neurons to Neighborhoods: An Update: Workshop Summary
From Neurons to Neighborhoods: An Update: Workshop Summary is based on the original study From Neurons to Neighborhoods: Early Childhood Development, which released in October of 2000. From the time of the original publication’s release, much has occurred to cause a fundamental …
From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development
How we raise young children is one of today’s most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of “expertise.” The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the …