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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips, Editors Board on Children, Youth, and Families National Research Council and Institute of Medicine NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. From Neurons to Neighborhoods The Science of Early Childhood Development

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. The study was supported by funds provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Mater- nal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evalu- ation, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education, The Commonwealth Fund, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the Irving B. Harris Foundation, and National Academies funds. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data From neurons to neighborhoods : the science of early child development / Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips, editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-309-06988-2 (hardover : alk. paper) 1. Child development—United States. 2. Preschool children—United States. 3. Preschool children—Services for—United States. 4. Nature and nurture—United States. 5. Early childhood education—United States. I. Shonkoff, Jack P. II. Phillips, Deborah. HQ767.9.F76 2000 301.231—dc21 00-010760 Additional copies of this report are available from National Academy Press, 2101 Con- stitution Avenue, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, D.C. 20055. Call (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area). This report is also available online at http://www.nap.edu Printed in the United States of America Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Suggested citation: National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2000) From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. 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.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Acad- emy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engi- neers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineer- ing programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Coun- cil is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respec- tively, of the National Research Council. National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine National Research Council

COMMITTEE ON INTEGRATING THE SCIENCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT JACK P. SHONKOFF (Chair), Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University DEBORAH L. COATES, Department of Psychology, The City University of New York GREG DUNCAN, Institute for Policy Research, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University FELTON J. EARLS, Department of Child Psychology, Harvard Medical School ROBERT N. EMDE, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center YOLANDA GARCIA, Children’s Services, Santa Clara County Office of Education SUSAN GELMAN, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan SUSAN J. GOLDIN-MEADOW, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago WILLIAM T. GREENOUGH, Departments of Psychology and Cell and Structural Biology, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana RUTH T. GROSS, Department of Pediatrics (emeritus), Stanford University Medical School MEGAN GUNNAR, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota MICHAEL GURALNICK, Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington ALICIA F. LIEBERMAN, Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco BETSY LOZOFF, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan BRIAN MacWHINNEY, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University* RUTH MASSINGA, The Casey Family Program, Seattle, Washington STEPHEN RAUDENBUSH, School of Education, University of Michigan ROSS THOMPSON, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska CHARLES A. NELSON (liaison from the MacArthur Foundation/ McDonnell Foundation Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development), Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota DEBORAH A. PHILLIPS, Study Director NANCY GEYELIN MARGIE, Research Assistant RONNÉ WINGATE, Senior Project Assistant v *Resigned October 1998.

BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES JACK P. SHONKOFF (Chair), Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University EVAN CHARNEY (Vice Chair), Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical Center JAMES BANKS, Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington SHEILA BURKE, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University DAVID CARD, Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley DONALD COHEN, Department of Child Psychiatry, Yale University MINDY FULLILOVE, Department of Clinical Psychobiology, Columbia University KEVIN GRUMBACH, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco MAXINE HAYES, Community and Family Health, Department of Health, Olympia, Washington MARGARET HEAGARTY, Department of Pediatrics, Harlem Hospital Center, Columbia University RENÉE JENKINS, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Howard University Hospital SHEILA KAMERMAN, School of Social Work, Columbia University HARRIET KITZMAN, School of Nursing, University of Rochester SANDERS KORENMAN, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College HONORABLE CINDY LEDERMAN, Circuit Court Judge, Juvenile Division, Dade County, Florida SARA McLANAHAN, Office of Population Research, Princeton University VONNIE McLOYD, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor PAUL NEWACHECK, Institute of Health Policy Studies and Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco GARY SANDEFUR, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison RUTH STEIN, Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine PAUL WISE, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center RUTH T. GROSS (liaison from the Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine), Department of Pediatrics (emeritus), Stanford University vi

ELEANOR MACCOBY (liaison from the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council), Department of Psychology (emeritus), Stanford University WILLIAM ROPER (liaison from the Institute of Medicine), School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill MICHELE D. KIPKE, Director ELENA O. NIGHTINGALE, Scholar-in-Residence MARY GRAHAM, Associate Director, Dissemination and Communications MARY STRIGARI, Administrative Associate vii

Fix Acknowledgments rom Neurons to Neighborhoods is the product of a two-and-a-half-year project during which 17 indi- viduals, as a committee, evaluated and integrated the current science of early childhood development. In view of the wide range of scientific and policy considerations that fall within the scope of the committee’s mandate, it is particularly significant that the funding for this project was provided by a broad diversity of public and private sponsors: Administration for Chil- dren and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Assis- tant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, National Institute for Child Health and Hu- man Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, all of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education; The Commonwealth Fund; Irving B. Harris Foundation; Heinz Endow- ments; and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The committee wishes to express particular appreciation to Duane Alexander, director of the Na- tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Ann Rosewater, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Region IV, who played a critical role in organizing an early meeting with potential federal sponsors and demonstrated unwavering faith in the ability of the committee to address its very ambitious charge. Beyond the expertise and diligence of the committee, we had the ex-

x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS traordinary good fortune of working with a number of highly knowledge- able people who shared our enthusiasm for this project. We are deeply indebted to the intellectual insights and support that they provided. In June 1999 the committee convened a two-day Workshop on the Science of Developmental Promotion and Early Childhood Intervention. Participants included leading researchers and practitioners from the fields of pediatric primary care and nursing, child care and early childhood edu- cation, child welfare, mental heath, public health, early intervention for children living in poverty, and early intervention for children with develop- mental disabilities: Kathryn Barnard, University of Washington; Barbara T. Bowman, Erikson Institute, Chicago; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University; Mary Beth Bruder, University of Connecticut Health Center; Mary Dozier, University of Delaware; Dale Farran, Vanderbilt University; Veronica Feeg, George Mason University; Barbara Howard, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Jane Knitzer, Columbia University; Samuel Meisels, University of Michigan; Craig Ramey, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Arnold Sameroff, University of Michigan; Ruby Takanishi, Foundation for Child Development; Deborah Klein Walker, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Mark Wolery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Hiro Yoshikawa, New York University. All of the workshop participants, both in their prepared written comments and through their contributions during the discussion sessions, added valuable scientific input to the committee’s work. Two additional workshops orga- nized by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, one on home visiting interventions and another on early precursors of antisocial behavior, also contributed greatly to our work. The committee and staff are grateful to everyone who participated in these meetings. We also wish to acknowledge several consultants who contributed to the committee process: Donald Hernandez, State University of New York at Albany, who provided data and advice on the demographics of the birth to five age group; Laurence Leonard, Purdue University, who advised us on atypical language development; Joshua Brown, Columbia University, for his synthesis of the literature on the developmental consequences of com- munity violence; Kathleen Allen-Wallner, National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, for her synthesis of research on regulation of attention and executive function in young children; and Michael Georgieff, University of Minnesota Hospital, who provided extensive information and advice on the effects of prematurity on early brain development. We would also like to thank Bonnie Keilty, a doctoral student in education and human development at George Washington University, for her assistance with the committee’s review of the literature on early intervention and her staff support for the Workshop on the Science of Developmental Promotion and Early Childhood Intervention. In addition, many generous hours of expert

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi consultation were provided by Charles A. Nelson, chair of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and James S. McDonnell Foundation Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development, who served as a formal liaison to the committee. In addition to formal workshops, a number of individuals were invited to make presentations and participate in discussions at committee meetings. In December 1998, H. Hill Goldsmith, University of Wisconsin at Madi- son, Kathleen R. Merikangas, Yale University, and David Reiss, George Washington University Medical Center, participated in a panel on the ge- netics of early development, which informed the committee about cutting- edge research on a range of issues in this area. In July 1999, Joseph Campos, University of California at Berkeley, addressed the interplay of experience and early brain development, and Robert LeVine, Harvard Uni- versity, spoke about the promise of cross-cultural research, the symbiotic development of individuals and societies, and the importance of integrating knowledge and research methods from a variety of disciplines. A number of experts assisted the committee by responding in writing to questions about the relations among culture, early childhood development, and early interventions. We are grateful to the following individuals for their thoughtful comments on this issue: Catherine Cooper, University of California at Santa Cruz; Doris Entwisle, Johns Hopkins University; An- drew Fuligni, New York University; Harriette McAdoo, Michigan State University; Suzanne Randolph, University of Maryland at College Park; Diana Slaughter-Dafoe, University of Pennsylvania; Paul Spicer, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Ruby Takanishi, Foundation for Child Development; and Thomas Weisner, University of California at Los Angeles. We would also like to thank Thomas Cook and Ken Howard, North- western University, for sharing their expertise in intervention methods and for helping the committee examine research and evaluation methods in depth. Shortly after the initiation of the study process, the committee inter- viewed a broad cross-section of individuals involved in early childhood policy and service delivery (in contrast to research) to ensure that the final report would be responsive to the issues that practitioners and local and state government officials are dealing with every day. We are grateful to the following people for taking the time to share their expertise: Douglas Baird, Associated Day Care Services; Hedy Chang, California Tomorrow; Veronica Feeg, George Mason University; Andrea Genser, Center for Ca- reer Development in Early Care and Education, Wheelock College; Stacie Goffin, National Association for the Education of Young Children; Dou- glas Howard, Family Independence Agency, State of Michigan; Elizabeth Iida, SRI International; Barbara Ferguson Kamara, Office of Early Child-

xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS hood Development, District of Columbia Department of Human Services; Andrew Kennedy, Los Angeles County Office of Education; Joan Lombardi, Child and Family Policy Specialist, formerly with the Child Care Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Matthew Melmed, Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families; Cheryl Mitchell, Vermont Agency of Human Services; Karabelle Pizzigatti, Child Welfare League of America; Calvin Sia, Hawaii Medical Association; Jolene Smith, Santa Clara County, Social Services Agency; Valora Washington, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; and Barry Zuckerman, Boston Medical Center. We are grateful to the following people for reviewing our syntheses of research on a variety of topics: Geraldine Dawson, University of Washing- ton, for reviewing the section on maternal depression; Michael Georgieff, University of Minnesota Hospital, and Sandra Jacobson, Wayne State Uni- versity, for their careful reading and feedback on early versions of Chapter 8, The Developing Brain; Lawrence Hirschfeld, University of Michigan, for clarifying our representation of his work on preschoolers’ conceptualization of race; Tama Leventhal, Columbia University, for her assistance with the literature on continuity of care and turbulence; Kenneth Rubin, University of Maryland, Willard Hartup, University of Minnesota, and Carollee Howes, University of California at Los Angeles, for reviewing early drafts of Chapter 7, Making Friends and Getting Along with Peers; Delia Vazquez, University of Michigan Medical School, and Seymour Levine, University of California at Davis, for reviewing the section on neuropeptides; and Steven Warren, Vanderbilt University, for reviewing a portion of Chapter 6, Com- municating and Learning. Dozens of scientists provided articles, papers, chapters, and books. We are most appreciative of the generous responses to requests for information that we received from: Lynette Aytch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; John Barks, University of Michigan; Cathryn Booth, Univer- sity of Washington; Mary Bowler, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Sandra Calvert, Georgetown University; Harry Chugani, Wayne State University; James Connor, Pennsylvania State University; E. Mark Cummings, Univer- sity of Notre Dame; Geraldine Dawson, University of Washington; Barbara Devaney, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; Susan Dickstein, Brown Uni- versity; JoAnn Farver, University of Southern California; Marc Fey, Univer- sity of Kansas Medical Center; Daniel Goldowitz, University of Tennessee; Mari Golub, University of California at Davis; John Hewitt, University of Colorado at Boulder; Jay Hirschman and colleagues, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Myron Hofer, Columbia University; Carollee Howes, Univer- sity of California at Los Angeles; Aletha Huston, University of Texas at Austin; Mark Innocenti, Utah State University; Sandra Jacobson, Wayne State University; Mark Johnson, Birkbeck College, University of London;

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii Jerome Kagan, Harvard University; Peter Kaplan, University of Colorado at Denver; Eric Knudsen, Stanford University; Mary Clare Lennon, Colum- bia University; Tama Leventhal, Columbia University; Mark Lipsey, Vanderbilt University; Bruce McEwen, The Rockefeller University; Editha Nottelman, National Institute of Mental Health; David Olds, University of Colorado at Denver; Joy Osofsky, Louisiana State University Health Sci- ences Center; Bruce Pennington, University of Denver; Tony Raden, Co- lumbia University; Mabel Rice, University of Kansas; Donald Roberts, Stanford University; Robert Sapolsky, Stanford University; Mary Schneider, University of Wisconsin at Madison; Carla Shatz, University of California at Berkeley; L. Alan Sroufe, University of Minnesota; Phillip Strain, Univer- sity of Colorado at Denver; Ann Streissguth, University of Washington; Douglas Teti, University of Maryland at Baltimore County; Edward Tronick, Harvard University; Delia Vazquez, University of Michigan Medi- cal School; Peter Vietze, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities; Douglas Wahsten, University of Alberta; Joanne Weinberg, University of British Columbia; Larry Wissow, Johns Hopkins University; Fred Wulczyn, Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago; Paul Yoder, Vanderbilt University; and Charles Zeanah, Jr., Tulane University School of Medicine. We would also like to thank Gina Adams and Jennifer Ehrle, The Urban Institute, who provided data from the 1997 National Survey of American Families; Jerry West and DeeAnn Brimhall, U.S. Department of Education, who generated multiple tables for us from the 1999 National Household Education Survey; Paul Newacheck, University of California at San Francisco, who provided data from the 1996 National Health Inter- view Survey; Christine Ross, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., who pro- vided information about infant child care in the context of welfare reform; Steve Savner and Rachel Schumacher, Center for Law and Social Policy, who provided information from the State Policy Documentation Project; and Kristen Smith, U.S. Bureau of the Census, who provided data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures ap- proved by the Report Review Committee of the National Research Council. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the authors and the National Research Council/ Institute of Medicine in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their participation in the review

xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS of this report: Thomas Cook, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University; Roy D’Andrade, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego; William Danforth, Washington University, St. Louis; Dale D. Farran, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt Univer- sity; Nathan Glazer, Professor of Education and Sociology, Emeritus, Harvard University; Jacqueline Goodnow, Department of Psychology, Macquerie University, New South Wales, Australia; Myron A. Hofer, Col- lege of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University; Jerome Kagan, Department of Psychology, Harvard University; Sanders Korenman, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York; Eleanor Maccoby, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Barbara Rogoff, Psychology Department, University of California, Santa Cruz; Michael Rutter, Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Center, Institute of Psychiatry, London, England; and Richard Weinberg, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnestota. Although the individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and the National Research Coun- cil (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The committee wishes to recognize the important contributions and support provided by several individuals connected to the NRC and IOM. We thank the original members of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, under the leadership of its founding chair, Sheldon White, who believed in the importance of this study from the time it was first proposed in 1993, and supported the protracted, multiyear search for funding that culminated in its full implementation. We also thank Kenneth Shine, Susanne Stoiber, Barbara Torrey, Faith Mitchell, Michele Kipke, and Clyde Behney for their steadfast support of the project and their critical reviews of early drafts of the report. We are deeply indebted to Eugenia Grohman, associate director for reports of CBASSE, who patiently worked with us through several revisions, and Christine McShane, who provided superb editorial assistance. Mary Graham patiently proofread the entire report and has provided superb advice and assistance with report dissemination, as has Vanee Vines of the National Academies’ Office of News and Public Information. We are also grateful to Katherine Magnuson at Northwestern University for her extensive assistance with research on the portions of the report having to do with family resources and neighborhoods. In addition, we wish to acknowledge the research assistance provided by Pam Gardner at the University of Michigan and Jeanette Mitchell and Mariolga Reyes at the City University of New York and the administrative support provided by Amy Belue at the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis University. Finally, it would be impossible to overstate the extraordinary effort and critical contributions of Nancy Geyelin Margie, research assistant, and

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv Ronné Wingate, project assistant, who served as the primary administrative staff for the committee at the NRC. Each of these talented and highly dedicated individuals played the kind of critical role “behind the scenes” that ensures a successful project. We remain deeply grateful for their excep- tional level of support. Jack P. Shonkoff, Chair Deborah A. Phillips, Study Director Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development

Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 I SETTING THE STAGE 1 Introduction 19 2 Rethinking Nature and Nurture 39 3 The Challenge of Studying Culture 57 4 Making Causal Connections 70 II THE NATURE AND TASKS OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT 5 Acquiring Self-Regulation 93 6 Communicating and Learning 124 7 Making Friends and Getting Along with Peers 163 8 The Developing Brain 182 III THE CONTEXT FOR EARLY DEVELOPMENT 9 Nurturing Relationships 225 10 Family Resources 267 11 Growing Up in Child Care 297 12 Neighborhood and Community 328 13 Promoting Healthy Development Through Intervention 337 xvii 219 17 89

IV KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION 381 14 Conclusions and Recommendations 383 References 417 APPENDIXES A Related Reports from the National Academies 535 B Defining and Estimating Causal Effects 545 C Technologies for Studying the Developing Human Brain 549 D Biographical Sketches 553 Index 561 xviii CONTENTS

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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 popular media.

How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues.

The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more.

Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate—family, child care, community—within which the child grows.

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