Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, PhD, is Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychology. Her main areas of research are poverty, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic disadvantage, urbanicity, early childhood education, and immigrant children.

Eric Dearing, PhD, is a Professor with the Boston College Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology. His main areas of interest/expertise are the roles of family, early child care, school, and community for promoting cognitive, language, and social-emotional development of economically and socially disadvantaged children.

The first and only comprehensive review of current early childhood development theory, practices, policies, and the science behind them
This unique and important bookprovides a comprehensive overview of the current theory, practices, and policies in early childhood development withinthe contexts of family, school, and community, and society at large. Moreover, it synthesizes scientifically rigorous research from an array of disciplines in an effort to identify the most effective strategies for promoting early childhood development.
Research into childhood development is booming, and the scientific knowledge base concerning early childhood development is now greater than that of any other stage of the human life span. At the same time, efforts to apply that knowledge to early childhood practices, programs, and policies have never been greater or more urgent. Yet, surprisingly, until The Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies, there was no comprehensive, critical review of the applied science in the field.
The book begins with in-depth coverage of child and family approaches. From there it moves onto a consideration of school- and community-based strategies. It concludes with a discussion of current social policies on health and development in early childhood and their implications.
* Provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the knowledge base, along with guidance for the future of the field
* Examines the underlying theory and basic science guiding efforts to promote early childhood development
* Critically reviews the strength of the empirical support for individual practices, programs, and policies
* Explores key opportunities and barriers policymakers and practitioners face when implementing various approaches
* Pays particular attention to socioeconomically disadvantaged and other disenfranchised populations
The Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies is a valuable resource for practitioners, scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students across the social sciences who are interested in strengthening their understanding of current strategies for promoting early childhood development and the science informing those strategies.

Notes on Contributors viii
Foreword xx
Preface xxv
Part I The State of Young Children in the United States 1
1 The State of Young Children in the United States: School Readiness 3
Terri J. Sabol and Robert C. Pianta
2 The State of Young Children in the United States: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective on the Mental Health of Preschool Children 18
Susan B. Campbell
3 Early Childhood Health Disparities, Biological Embedding, and Life?]Course Health 35
Daniel Berry
4 Social and Contextual Risks 66
Robert H. Bradley
Part II Theoretical and Empirical Contexts of Applied Developmental Science of Early Childhood 97
5 From the Lab to the Contexts in which Children Live and Grow: Historical Perspectives on the Field 99
Pamela A. Morris and Maia C. Connors
6 What Does it Mean to be Evidence?]based? 118
Margaret R. Burchinal and Nina E. Forestieri
7 Neural Development in Context: Differences in Neural Structure and Function Associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences 135
Emily C. Merz and Kimberly G. Noble
Part III Early Childhood Education and Care 161
8 Publicly Supported Early Care and Education Programs 163
W. Steven Barnett, Elizabeth Votruba?]Drzal, Eric Dearing, and Megan E. Carolan
9 Early Childhood Education and Care for Dual Language Learners 187
Lianna Pizzo and Mariela Páez
10 Early Childhood Education and Care for Children with Disabilities 211
Penny Hauser?]Cram, Miriam Heyman, and Kristen Bottema?]Beutel
11 Classroom? based Early Childhood Interventions 237
Stephanie Jones, Dana Charles McCoy and Lauren Hay
12 Child Care and Child Development in the United States: Where Have We Come From, What Do We Know Now, and Where Are We Going? 261
Anna D. Johnson
Part IV Parenting, Family, and Dual?]generation Programs 287
13 Family? School Partnerships in Early Childhood 289
Susan M. Sheridan, Amanda L. Moen, and Lisa L. Knoche
14 Parenting and Home Visiting Interventions 310
Nancy Donelan?]McCall
15 The Two? Generation Approach to Building Human Capital: Past, Present, and Future 330
Margo Gardner, Jeanne Brooks?]Gunn, and P. Lindsay Chase?]Lansdale
Part V Public Policy and Young Children 363
16 Immigration Policy and Early Childhood Development 365
Soojin Oh Park and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
17 Marriage Policy and Early Childhood Development 385
Rebekah Levine Coley
18 Child Welfare Policy 403
Kristen S. Slack and June Paul
19 Effects of United States Income and Work Supports Policies on Children in Low?]Income Families 424
Aletha C. Huston
20 The Role of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Promoting Early Childhood Development in the United States 447
Sharon Wolf, Juliette Berg, Pamela A. Morris, and J. Lawrence Aber
21 Work? Family Policies 469
Anna Gassman?]Pines and Rachel Goldstein
Index 4