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Frontiers of Innovation/Best Starts for Kids WebinarJune 27, 2018
Three Science Concepts That Can Help Us Think Differently About Early Childhood
Programs and Solutions
@HarvardCenter
Al RaceChief Knowledge Officer
Center on the Developing Child
Melissa RivardSenior Project Manager
Center on the Developing Child
Holly Schindler, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Washington
Jason GortneyDirector of InnovationChildren’s Home Society of Washington
SupportiveExperiences
Advances in Science Are Opening Up the Black Box of Disparities in Learning, Health, and Development
Effective learning, adaptive behavior, lifelong health and well-being
School failure, risky behaviors, chronic illness, shorter lifespan
Black Box
Parents
Genes
NegativeExperiences
ACEs Family Life
Peers Habits/Choices
Social Determinants
Schools
Advances in Science Are Opening Up the Black Box of Disparities in Learning, Health, and Development
Effective learning, adaptive behavior, lifelong health and well-being
School failure, risky behaviors, chronic illness, shorter lifespan
SupportiveExperiences
Parents
Genes
NegativeExperiences
Responsive Relationships and Positive Experiences Build Sturdy Brain Architecture1
Brains’ Ability to Change Decreases Over Time
Source: Levitt, P. (2009)
Birth 10 20 30
Physiological “Effort”Required to Enhance Neural Connections
Normal Brain Plasticity Influenced by Experience
Age (Years)
40 50 60 70 80
“Serve and Return” Interaction Shapes Brains and Builds Skills
Toxic Stress Disrupts the Development of Brain Architecture and Other Systems2
Number of Risk Factors Source: Barth, et al. (2008)
Ch
ildre
n w
ith
D
evel
opm
enta
l D
elay
s
1-2 3 54 6 7
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Significant Adversity Impairs Development in the First Three Years
Biological “Memories” Link Maltreatment in Childhood to Greater Risk of Adult Heart Disease
Percent of adults with biological
marker for greater risk of
heart disease
Source: Danese et al. (2008)
Control
10%
20%
40%
30%
50%
Depression(age 32)
Depression(age 32) +Maltreated (as a child)
Maltreated (as a child)
How ACEs, Trauma, and Toxic Stress Intersect
Poor Life Course
OutcomesACEs 1995 Kaiser-CDC Study
ACEs + Community & Systemic Adversity
Toxic Stress
Trauma(psychological manifestation)
Trauma-Informed
Care
Building Skills to Mitigate Stress
Reducing Sources of
Stress
Therapeutic Interventions
A Spectrum of Responses
Core Capabilities for School, Work, and Life Are Built Over Time Through Practice
An “Air Traffic Control System” for the Brain
Executive function and self-regulation are a foundational set of capacities that help us: • focus and sustain attention• set goals, make plans, and
monitor actions• make decisions and solve
problems• follow rules, control impulses,
and delay gratification
Emotions
Error Processing
Reaction and ResponsesUse of
RulesRisk/Reward Decisions
Behavioral Control
Working Memory
After infancy, two major spurts in skill development: ages 3-5 and 15-25
3
How Excessive Stress Affects the Development and Use of Core Capabilities
Faith and cultural
traditions
Increasing sense of mastery
Strengthening adaptive skills
Responsive relationships
Resilience Can Be Strengthened by Supportive Relationships and Skill-Building
Supportive community
services
3 Design Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families
Reduce Sources of Stress
Strengthen Core Life Skills
Build Responsive
Relationships
ChildrenHealthy
Development & Educational Achievement
AdultsResponsive
Caregiving & Economic Stability
Using the Principles as a New Lens for Interventions
Is one of the principles a specific target of your intervention?
How does your intervention affect one or more of the principles?
Can you measure the impact of your intervention on one or more of the principles?
Building a New Definition of an Evidence-Based Program
0
Current ApproachSignificant mean effect earns evidence-based status
What We Should AskWhy did this work so well for these children and families?
Why did this work so poorly for these children and families?
0
Scale effective strategies for similar subgroups
Design and test new approaches for these subgroups
Build a suite of programs and policies across sectors that matches different strategies to different resources,
needs, and outcomes
Building a New Definition of an Evidence-Based Program
Asking the Right Questions When Measuring Impact
Rather than asking if a program works on average, we need to be asking:• What about it works?• How does it work?• For whom does it work, and for whom does it not work?• In what contexts does it work?
(Adapted from Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 2003)
Basic quality issues that must be addressed
Meeting standards and increasing access
Generating and testing new ideas across sectors
Adapting and scaling the most promising new strategies
Delivering state of the art
Any Healthy Field Requires a Full Spectrum of Approaches to Move Forward
www.developingchild.harvard.edu@HarvardCenter
Some questions to think about for your proposal
How do the activities you propose relate to the three principles?
Will your activities help to…
…reduce sources of stress that affect families?
…strengthen relationships between adults and children?
…strengthen relationships between the adults in children’s lives?
…strengthen adults’ core life skills?
…develop young children’s core life skills?
Reducing Sources of Stress
• Helping families identify stressors
• Providing linguistically and culturally relevant services
• Being a trusted source of child development information for parents
• Helping families connect to resources
• Providing needed resources
• Making it easier to use services
• Providing fun activities
• Helping families with translation/interpretation needs
• Helping families plan and set goals for a better future
Examples
Strengthening Responsive Relationships Between Adults and Children
• Modeling positive interactions
• Coaching parents/caregivers on positive interactions
• Connecting parents to infant mental health services
• Educating parents about responsive caregiving
• Providing space and time for parents and children to interact
• Providing fun activities for parents and children to do together
Examples
Strengthening Responsive Relationships Between the Adults in Children’s Lives
• Offering opportunities for parents to connect with each other
• Providing coaching on conflict resolution
• Helping families set shared goals to work on together
• Providing relationship coaching
• Encouraging caring, consistent relationships between program staff and families
• Helping parents develop a supportive social network
Examples
Strengthening Core Life Skills in Adults
• Helping families develop household routines
• Providing coaching on goal setting and achievement
• Helping families learn to navigate systems
• Teaching stress management skills
• Teaching healthy communication skills
• Providing or linking to behavioral health services
• Helping parents develop safety and self-care plans
Examples
Develop Young Children’s Core Life Skills
• Providing a safe, stable, predictable environment for children to learn, play and explore
• Playing games with children
• Engaging in serve and return interactions
• Giving children opportunities to practice focus and self-control
• Helping children make connections between their experiences
• Helping children learn to communicate their thoughts and feelings
Examples