an Eldis Resource

The science of early childhood development, as it has grown over the past several decades, has been as fragmented as the services, programmes and policies that exist to address the diverse needs of young children and their families. Published by the National Academies Press, this report is the product of a two-and-a-half year effort by the Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, whose task was to identify and articulate a single coherent knowledge base for the science of early childhood development.

The committee reviewed hundreds of studies, convened workshops, commissioned several papers, and engaged in extended debate. After examining and integrating the science of early childhood development, it then addressed the implications of that science for policy, practice, professional development, training and research in a wide range of early childhood domains in the United States of America.

Key findings include the following:

• The traditional "nature versus nurture" debate is simplistic and scientifically obsolete. Human development is shaped by a dynamic and continuous interaction between biology and experience.
• Early experiences clearly influence brain development, but a disproportionate focus on the stage from “birth to three” begins too late and ends too soon.
• Healthy early development depends on nurturing and dependable relationships. Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of childhood development.
• Early intervention programmes can improve the odds for vulnerable young children, but those that work are rarely simple, inexpensive, or easy to implement.
• There is little scientific evidence that special stimulation activities above and beyond normal growth-promoting experiences lead to advanced brain development in infancy.
• Substantial scientific evidence indicates that poor nutrition, specific infections, environmental neurotoxins, drug exposures, and chronic stress can harm the developing brain.
• Significant parent mental health problems (particularly maternal depression), substance abuse, and family violence impose heavy developmental burdens on young children.

Recommendations include the following:

• Early childhood programmes must balance their long-standing focus on cognition and literacy skills with comparable attention to the emotional, regulatory, and social development of all children. In addition, greater commitments must be made to address significant unmet mental health needs in young children.
• The early childhood years lay a foundation that influences the effectiveness of all subsequent education efforts. Major investments must be made to enhance the skills and compensation of providers of early care and education.
• Research is needed to advance our understanding of how experience is incorporated into the maturing nervous system, and how biological processes interact with environmental influences to affect the development of complex behaviours.
• There is a need for improved preventative and ameliorative interventions for children who are exposed to biological or environmental risks.
• There is a need to improve evaluations of early childhood interventions.

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