Three Things All Journalists Should Understand About Early Childhood Science, Practice, and Policy JACK P. SHONKOFF, M.D. Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Education. Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.

Dart Center Global Reporting Institute: Early Childhood Experiences & the Developing Brain New York, NY | March 9, 2017

@HarvardCenter

1 The architecture of the developing brain is built and shaped by continuous interactions among genes and environmental influences—beginning well before birth—with lifelong effects on learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health.

Genes and Experiences Interact to Build Brain Architecture

Watch this video: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/

Brains and Skills are Shaped by “Serve & Return” Interactions that Begin in the Home and Extend to Friends, Caregivers, Teachers, and the Community

Children with Developmental Delays

The Cumulative Pile Up of Adversity Impairs Development in the First Three Years 100% 80% 60% 40% 20%

1-2

3

4

5

6

Number of Risk Factors

7 Source: Barth, et al. (2008)

Toxic Stress Disrupts the Development of Brain Architecture and other Biological Systems

Watch this video: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/

2 Achieving breakthrough outcomes for children facing adversity requires that we support the adults who care for them to build their own core capabilities and to strengthen the communities in which they live.

Capabilities and Skills that Promote Healthy Development are Built on the Foundational Roles of Executive Function and Self-Regulation

Error Processing Behavioral Control Working Use of Memory Rules Risk/Reward Decisions

These core dimensions of adult competence include the ability to: Reaction and Responses

Emotions

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focus and sustain attention

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set goals, make plans, and monitor actions

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make decisions and solve problems

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follow rules, control impulses, and delay gratification

Skill proficiency

Two Windows for Intervention: The Development of Executive Function Skills Begins in Early Childhood and Extends Into the Early Adult Years

Birth

3

5

10

15

25

Age (Years)

30

50

70

80

3 Current best practices in early childhood programs and policies clearly make a difference but they should be viewed as a starting point, not a final destination.

The Frontiers of 21st-Century Science are Generating New Discoveries Waiting to be Leveraged Research on plasticity and critical periods in development can help determine the timing and nature of interventions across the life cycle. Research on variation in stress susceptibility and resilience can help design a diverse portfolio of more effective intervention strategies and inform the evaluation of differential program impacts. The emerging availability of biological and bio-behavioral measures of toxic stress that are sensitive to intervention effects and acceptable to parents will have game-changing implications.

A Vibrant and Increasingly Effective Field Requires a Full Spectrum of Engagement

Meeting standards and increasing access

Basic quality issues that must be addressed

Delivering state of the art

Adapting and scaling the most promising new strategies Generating and testing new ideas across sectors

If We Use This Knowledge Well…

1 GXE Interaction

x

2 Building Adult Capabilities

x

3

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Driving Science-based Innovation

…we will generate a multiplier effect that will increase the impacts of effective policies and practices across multiple sectors, including health, education, child survival, and economic development.

www.developingchild.harvard.edu @HarvardCenter