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Speakers at this forum take on conventional wisdom to demonstrate the contribution that research-based communications can make to public thinking and child-oriented public policy.

Scientists have long struggled to explain the inextricably intertwined processes of social, emotional and cognitive development in ways that the public can understand and in ways that connect child development to public policy. Some child advocates and pollsters argue that it does not require an understanding of the science of development to support child-oriented policies.

Kathleen McCartney, Dean and Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, provides the introduction.

This lecture is the first in a series of colloquia by the Center on the Developing Child is hosted at various Harvard schools throughout the year. The goal of the series is to elucidate both the underlying science of child development and the extent to which sophisticated communications research can translate the science in a way that engages the policy and practice communities.