National Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering

Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

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 Academy 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 engineers. 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 engineering 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 Council 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, respectively, of the National Research Council.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods is the product of a two-and-a-half-year project during which 17 individuals, 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 Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Assistant 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 Human 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 Endowments; and Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The committee wishes to express particular appreciation to Duane Alexander, director of the National 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-

traordinary good fortune of working with a number of highly knowledgeable 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 education, child welfare, mental heath, public health, early intervention for children living in poverty, and early intervention for children with developmental 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 organized 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 community 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

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 Madison, Kathleen R. Merikangas, Yale University, and David Reiss, George Washington University Medical Center, participated in a panel on the genetics 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 University, 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; Andrew 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 interviewed 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 Career Development in Early Care and Education, Wheelock College; Stacie Goffin, National Association for the Education of Young Children; Douglas Howard, Family Independence Agency, State of Michigan; Elizabeth Iida, SRI International; Barbara Ferguson Kamara, Office of Early Child-

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 Washington, for reviewing the section on maternal depression; Michael Georgieff, University of Minnesota Hospital, and Sandra Jacobson, Wayne State University, 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, Communicating 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, University 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, University of Notre Dame; Geraldine Dawson, University of Washington; Barbara Devaney, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; Susan Dickstein, Brown University; JoAnn Farver, University of Southern California; Marc Fey, University 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, University 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;

Jerome Kagan, Harvard University; Peter Kaplan, University of Colorado at Denver; Eric Knudsen, Stanford University; Mary Clare Lennon, Columbia 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 Sciences Center; Bruce Pennington, University of Denver; Tony Raden, Columbia 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, University 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 Medical 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 Interview Survey; Christine Ross, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., who provided 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 approved 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

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 University; Nathan Glazer, Professor of Education and Sociology, Emeritus, Harvard University; Jacqueline Goodnow, Department of Psychology, Macquerie University, New South Wales, Australia; Myron A. Hofer, College 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 Council (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

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 exceptional level of support.

Jack P. Shonkoff, Chair

Deborah A. Phillips, Study Director

Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development

From Neurons to Neighborhoods