America's Diversity of Children

Since 1985, racial/ethnic differences among Black, Hispanic, and White children have been narrowing overall.

The Foundation for Child Development’s Special Focus Report, Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006, presents the first wide-ranging picture of how children in their first decade of life are faring the the U.S. It is the first report to look comprehensively at the overall health, well-being, and quality of life of America’s youngest children — from birth through eleven years old, using the the Foundation’s Child Well-Being Index (CWI), and to track and compare child well-being across three primary stages of development — early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.

Annual Release - July 22, 2008 The 2008 annual release of the Foundation for Child Development’s Child Well-Being Index (CWI) finds that after an upward trend for eight years, 1994 through 2002, progress in American children’s quality of life has now moved into a stall/slow growth period.

Co-sponsored by Representative Mike Castle (R-DE) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), The New America Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development hosted An Ounce of Prevention: How Early Efforts for Education, Health and Safety Make a Critical Difference in the Well-Being of Children, on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2168, Capitol Hill.

The Foundation for Child Development’s Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is an annual comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States.

This research brief by Diane Hughes, Professor of Applied Psychology at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Development, and Education and Co-director of the Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education at NYU, outlines research that is relevant to a more complete understanding of experiences of racial bias at school among ethnic minority Prekindergarten and early elementary school children (PreK-3rd). It outlines the potential consequences of those experiences on academic and school behaviors.

The aim of this study is to investigate the academic and socioemotional trajectories from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade for children with different language abilities at Kindergarten entry.

In the annual essay, journalist Dale Russakoff examines evidence as to whether the vast range of efforts by schools to comply with federal requirements to engage parents has led to better achievement for their children.