The field of education is beginning to understand more concretely how specific conditions, such as poverty, affect brain and cognitive development and the related impacts on academic achievement. More than 10 million children who live below the poverty threshold attend public preK-12 schools, and over 1 million of these children attend public…

How can we use insights from cutting-edge science to improve the well-being and long-term life prospects of the most vulnerable children in our society? This is both a critical challenge and a powerful opportunity to affect the trajectories of millions of children in the United States and around the world. It is a question of particular importance…

This research brief explores how emotions and relationships drive learning and are a fundamental part of how our brains develop. The authors explain how emotionally safe and cognitively stimulating environments contribute to brain development; how brain development that supports learning depends on social experiences; and how sensitive periods in…