Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
Jack S. Shonkoff, M.D., Director

"...based on the evidence gleaned from a rich and rapidly growing science base, we feel an urgent need to call for a new national dialogue focused on rethinking the meaning of both shared responsibility for children and strategic investment in their future."

National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.
From Neurons to Neighborhoods:
The Science of Early Childhood Development.

2000.

Early Childhood Program Evaluations:
A Decision-Maker’s Guide

A clear, concise guide from the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation that helps prepare decision-makers to be better consumers of evaluation information by posing five key questions that address both the substance and the practical utility of rigorous evaluation research.
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Partnership for Early Childhood Science and Policy

This new collaboration of the Center on the Developing Child, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, and the National Conference of State Legislatures is designed to help build the leadership capacity of state lawmakers in both the legislative and executive branches to design and implement successful, evidence-based birth to five policies that shift the odds for vulnerable children and their families. It includes the first National Symposium on Early Childhood Science and Policy, which was held June 26 - 27, 2008, at Harvard University. More

A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy

A ground-breaking framework for using evidence to improve outcomes in learning, behavior, and health for vulnerable children, co-authored by the members of the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation and the National Scientic Council on the Developing Child. Combining knowledge from neuroscience, behavioral and developmental science, economics, and 40 years of early childhood program evaluation, the authors provide an informed, nonpartisan, pragmatic framework to guide policymakers toward science-based policies that improve the lives of young children and benefit society as a whole.
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Summary of Essential Findings
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Colloquium Series

The Science of Learning, Behavior, and Health:
Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do

The Center on the Developing Child has launched a Colloquium Series with events across the various schools of the University. Open to all University students, faculty and the general public, this lecture series presents the science of child development, including its underlying neurobiology, to audiences with the explicit aim of catalyzing new ways of thinking across disciplines about how knowledge can inform policy and practice.
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Formed in 2003, this multi-disciplinary collaboration is designed to bring the science of early childhood and early brain development to bear on public decision-making. Its website features related papers, news, and information. More

This new multi-university collaboration involves the analysis, synthesis, translation, and dissemination of findings from 40 years of early childhood program evaluation studies to learn more about what interventions work best and for whom. More