Our program areas have been developed to reflect and bring together the ongoing work of our faculty affiliates, students and post-doctoral trainees, as well as to stimulate and support new research and collaboration on important, but less-studied topics. Our three program areas are 1) Child Development Education, and Human Capital; 2) Poverty, Inequality, and the Human Condition; 3) Science, Technology & Society.
The Center is interested in social policies and programs that support human development at key junctures in the lifespan. Transitions to formal schooling for young children or the transition to adulthood for older youth represent turning points in development that may be important in shaping future developmental trajectories. These turning points may also be particularly sensitive to policy intervention. Much of the Center’s work in this program area focuses on investments in childhood and in understanding the role of parents and contexts for learning in promoting cognitive and social skills. For example, CHPPP Director Ariel Kalil, in collaboration with Harris School professor Susan Mayer, is developing an intervention to train parents of preschool children in effective ways to promote children’s early math learning.
The Center and its affiliates have a long-standing interest in understanding the social and economic enhancements that improve the life chances of economically disadvantaged children and their families. This program area focuses on the impacts of poverty and inequality on achievement, health, and well-being as well as the evidence on social welfare policies that aim to promote equality of opportunity. For example, CHPPP Dissertation Doctoral Fellow Maria Rosales is examining how disadvantaged families choose to invest in children in response to the onset of a child’s mental health condition. This work illustrates how family investments can compensate for or reinforce children’s health limitations. In doing so, it will highlight the potential role for family policies that could equalize opportunities for disadvantaged children.
The Center has a particular interest in understanding how scientific progress shapes the human condition, especially in understanding the role of technology in promoting human potential. Rapid developments in science and technology hold the promise for improving the human condition through the development of more cost-effective and efficient interventions. This program area's signature focus is on technology as a context for learning. In this area, CHPPP faculty fellow Ofer Malamud has evaluated large-scale interventions in Romania and Peru to test the impact of home computer and “one laptop per child” initiatives on children’s achievement and behavior. Our Annual Lecture on Science, Technology & Society falls under this program area.
