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The Aug. 19 issue of Science magazine featured a special section on early childhood learning, “.”  The collection of articles offered policy updates, field studies and new research.  The entire section is well worth a read, but here’s a summary of the most interesting articles in the package:

“:” Early Ed Watch has about the widespread theory that self-control is one of the most critical skills a young child can learn; this article confirms that, and also proves through numerous studies that typical teachers in typical classrooms can successfully implement strategies to improve students’ self-control, as long as teachers are provided with appropriate professional development.

“:” Most of our readers will be familiar with the territory covered in this piece. It describes three longitudinal, scientific studies of early learning programs are the basis of many current government and non-profit early learning efforts: the study of the 1960s; the of the 1970s; and the of the 1980s.  The three studies found that early childhood learning programs can offer between $2.50 and $16 in savings for every $1 of public money spent, because children who attend pre-school are less likely to be incarcerated or unemployed as adults.

“:” Both critics and supporters of the Head Start program agree that low teacher salaries, limited instruction time and insufficient enrollment limit Head Start’s capacity to make a long-term, substantive impact on students’ lives, despite some evidence of short-term academic gains. As the Early Education Initiative’s Lisa Guernsey told Science, Head Start’s successes will be lost if its participants enter elementary schools that fail to ”maintain the momentum” the program creates.

“:” An analysis of teachers’ use of language to improve children’s long-term literacy skills.

“:” A look at pedagogical methods that prioritize teaching mathematics foundations in a way that facilitates students’ ability to learn advanced math concepts later on in their schooling.

“:” According to a team of researchers, is more effective than in developing students’ critical thinking abilities in the sciences.

“:” Steve Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research explains how global poverty can be mitigated through high-quality early education.

“:” To heighten their own influence, scientists must conduct research that is directly adaptable to the public policy world, argues William Gormley, Jr. of Georgetown University.

Read the entire Science package on early-childhood learning if you have a subscription to Science, or check your local library for the latest issue.