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BackgroundExisting health and nutrition services present potential platforms for scaling up delivery of early childhood development (ECD) interventions within sensitive windows across the life course, especially in the first 1000 days from conception to age 2 years. However, there is insufficient knowledge on how to optimize implementation for such strategies in an integrated manner. In light of this knowledge gap, we aimed to systematically identify a set of integrated implementation research priorities for health, nutrition and early child development within the 2015 to 2030 timeframe of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).MethodsWe applied the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method, and consulted a diverse group of global health experts to develop and score 57 research questions against five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, impact, and effect on equity. These questions were ranked using a research priority score, and the average expert agreement score was calculated for each question.FindingsThe research priority scores ranged from 61.01 to 93.52, with a median of 82.87. The average expert agreement scores ranged from 0.50 to 0.90, with a median of 0.75. The top–ranked research question were: i) “How can interventions and packages to reduce neonatal mortality be expanded to include ECD and stimulation interventions?”; ii) “How does the integration of ECD and MNCAH&N interventions affect human resource requirements and capacity development in resource–poor settings?”; and iii) “How can integrated interventions be tailored to vulnerable refugee and migrant populations to protect against poor ECD and MNCAH&N outcomes?”. Most highly–ranked research priorities varied across the life course and highlighted key aspects of scaling up coverage of integrated interventions in resource–limited settings, including: workforce and capacity development, cost–effectiveness and strategies to reduce financial barriers, and quality assessment of programs.ConclusionsInvesting in ECD is critical to achieving several of the SDGs, including SDG 2 on ending all forms of malnutrition, SDG 3 on ensuring health and well–being for all, and SDG 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of life–long learning opportunities for all. The generated research agenda is expected to drive action and investment on priority approaches to integrating ECD interventions within existing health and nutrition services.

This study examined the relationships among three sets of variables in a sample of 299 diverse high school youth: (a) demographic variables such as ethnicity and immigrant status, (b) attitudes toward citizenship responsibilities, and (c) allegiances to three socializing institutions--family, school, and community. A measure of citizenship attitudes was found to identify two distinct constructs--Polity-Oriented and Civic-Oriented attitudes toward citizenship responsibilities, relating to the polity or nation-state, and to serving the community. European Americans were consistently lower on Polity-Oriented attitudes than Hispanic teens, and lower on family allegiance than other non-European American groups. Hispanic youth reported significantly lower community involvement than other non-European American groups as well as European American youth. Whereas the only significant correlation between allegiance and citizenship attitudes was between family allegiance and Polity-Oriented attitudes, there were multiple moderating effects of immigrant status and ethnicity. Results are discussed in terms of ethnicity and allegiances as contexts of socialization for the development of attitudes toward citizenship responsibilities.

ABSTRACT— Policymakers and researchers have shared interests in educational programs for young children. Policymakers see these programs as a potential means of narrowing the persistent gaps in achievement evident in many children entering kindergarten. Researchers see their role as one of assessing the effectiveness of various programs so that policymakers can make informed decisions. This article provides an overview of what is currently known and what needs to be determined about the factors that contribute to positive outcomes from early education programs. New prospective longitudinal studies are needed, as well as secondary analyses of recent large‐scale longitudinal studies, which can inform issues of program design and impact. Five gaps in knowledge about effective programs are identified: program design for an increasingly ethnically diverse group of young children, including those of immigrants; connecting teaching and learning processes to child outcomes; understanding a broad range of child outcomes based on developmental science; bringing multiple disciplinary perspectives to bear on what constitutes effective early education programs; and continuing to address how research and practice can be mutually beneficial.