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Introduction: Laying the Foundation for Lifetime Learning [full text available]
Pamela Hines, Melissa McCartney, Jeffrey Mervis & Brad Wible
Although you may have forgotten your earliest experiences before school, they continue to affect many aspects of your life, perhaps your comfort with math or even the size of your paycheck. Early childhood education research is focused on understanding these impacts, both near- and long-term. A special section of the 19 August 2011 Science details what is known about these processes and programs, and what remains to be explored.
Editorial: Getting Education Right
B. Alberts
In this special section, we review new research on early childhood education.
Interventions Shown to Aid Executive Function Development in Children 4 to 12 Years Old
Authors: Adele Diamond & Kathleen Lee
Preschool can improve the abilities to pay attention, follow directions, and function in a group-skills that underlie future success in school and life.
Teachers' Language Practices and Academic Outcomes of Preschool Children
David K. Dickinson
A teacher's ability to support language and conceptual knowledge can foster early language skills, providing a foundation for later literacy.
Early Childhood Mathematics Intervention
Douglas H. Clements & Julie Sarama
Though young children have the capacity to learn mathematics, many lack opportunities, so there is much to gain and little to lose from early math interventions.
Educational Interventions to Advance Children's Scientific Thinking
D. Klahr et al.
Cognitive research has advanced understanding of children's scientific thinking, which informs how to teach science from preschool to middle school.
Effectiveness of Early Educational Intervention
W. S. Barnett
Decades-long studies show that early education can produce a range of effects lasting well into adulthood, but the quality and context of the programs are critical.
From Science to Policy in Early Childhood Education
W. T. Gormley Jr.
Some practices and situations are better than others when it comes to influencing public policy with early childhood education research.
Past Successes Shape effort to Expand Early Intervention
J. Mervis
Three longitudinal studies have demonstrated the lasting value of high-quality early education. So why isn't it offered to all children who need it?
Giving Children a Head Start Is Possible - But It's Not Easy
J. Mervis
Begun in 1965, the U.S. Head Start program is still trying to find the best way to prepare poor children for school.
A Passion for Early Education
J. Mervis
Joan Lombardi brings experience and energy to the Obama Administration's efforts to better coordinate federal children's health and education programs.
Protecting Brains, Not Simply Stimulating Minds
J. P. Shonkoff
The impacts of even the best preschool curricula are likely to be limited by toxic social stress on the developing brain.