This piece from the Center on the Developing Child, bridges the disconnect between science and policy in the realm of early childhood development.

A new white paper from the Early Childhood Data Collaborative makes the case for why states should build longitudinal data systems for early care and education, describes the ten fundamentals of a coordinated system with state examples, and provides guidance on how to ensure appropriate access to data, which includes building the capacity for stakeholders to use the data for continuous improvement.

A study from CCSSO and Child Trends that explores the developmental disparities between young children ages 0-5 with a low socioeconomic status and their peers.

Find out how toxic substances can stunt a child’s development in this paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

Negative stress at an early age can have a lasting impact on a child’s brain development according to this paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

“From Crib to Classroom: Developing Language and Skills for Reading”, is a fact sheet based on a presentation by Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University Lefkowitz Professor of Psychology and Director, Infant Language Laboratory.

This brochure highlights the importance of coordinated and longitudinal data systems and what states can do to start building them to inform continuous improvement in early care and education. 

This brief from the Center on the Developing Child, NCSL and NGA examines the science of a child’s developing brain and discusses the policy implication of the findings.

Find out how stress and adversity can have a negative impact on early childhood development and how this can be addressed with effective state policies, from the Center on the Developing Child, NCSL and NGA.

A presentation by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D. of Temple University given at the Annual Birth to Five Policy Alliance National Meeting and Peer Advocate Roundtable.  July 19, 2011 in Chicago, Il.

An interactive site that provides videos and other resources on the economic benefits of investing in high quality early education programs.

Find out why early childhood development programs should be at the top of state governments' economic development lists.

From Jim Heckman with support from Committee for Economic Development, this paper argues for publicly funded investments in disadvantaged children.

Learn how early education can improve economic outcomes for states and the nation from the Committee for Economic Development.

Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRISs) commonly offer on-site technical assistance (TA) and coaching to help early care and education settings achieve quality improvements and a higher QRIS rating. In surveys of administrators overseeing statewide QRISs, almost all states reported the use of on-site TA and coaching in both center-based and home-based settings.

According to the latest annual report released by the Data Quality Campaign, while states have made strong progress increasing their capacity to build and use data systems, they are not yet helping teachers, parents, and other education stakeholders use the data to inform decisions to improve student achievement.

From the classroom to the legislature, stakeholders can use data about young children, early childhood programs and the workforce to improve the effectiveness of early care and education.

This report from NCCP presents findings from an interview study that investigated features of the professional development and on-site assistance available to center-based staff and home-based providers who participate in states’ Quality Rating Improvement Systems.

This study from the Center for the Study Child Care Employment examines the career backgrounds and professional development needs of those working in child care resource and referral programs, local First 5 commissions, and child care coordinators across the state.

Research on the importance of the early childhood years has compelled states to support children’s school readiness. This brief provides an overview of states’ Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs) for children age birth to five and current statewide school readiness assessment practices.

This guide from the National Forum on Early Childhood Program Evaluation helps decision-makers understand evaluation information by posing five key questions evaluation research.

Learn how home visiting programs have evolved and improved over the years and how they will continue to move forward, from the Ounce of Prevention.

This paper from the Rand Corporation evaluates early intervention programs and how they can provide big returns on their investments to society.

This brief from the Center on the Developing Child, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Governors Association identifies innovative early childhood programs that improve outcomes for children.