From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts

Experiences in the earliest years of life form the foundation of brain architecture, for better or for worse. Learning, behavior, and health across the lifespan are all built on that foundation. We know today’s best programs and practices can help support child development, but too many children are left behind. Dramatic improvements for all children are not only achievable but also necessary for a thriving and sustainable society. Like any healthy field, ours needs an investment in R&D to move beyond the best of what we know now—to apply cutting-edge science and an innovation mindset to the urgent task of creating the better best practices of tomorrow.

This report is for anyone who shares our sense of constructive dissatisfaction with the status quo. Whether from the worlds of policy, practice, research, philanthropy, or civic leaders and parents who want to make their communities a better place for children, this is an invitation to join a journey of discovery. Leveraging what we are learning from science to generate and test new ideas is a critical, untapped key to unlocking these dramatic improvements.

Suggested citation: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families. Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu.