ntion" (Carnegie Corporation, 1994, p. 1). These alarming statistics symbolize the adversity that endangers the development of America's children (Carnegie Corporation, 1994). Each year, as a result of these staggering statistics, the "American taxpayers reach deep into their pocket[s] to meet the costs, both direct and indirect, of policies that are based on remediation rather than prevention" (Carnegie Corporation, 1994, p. 9).
Consequently, Americans can no longer ignore the significance of the early years of development (Carnegie Corporation, 1994). According to Nash (1997), psychiatrists and educators long have acknowledged the significance of children's early experiences; until recently, however, their realizations have been largely anecdotal. Matthew Melmed, Executive Director of Zero to Three, a nonprofit organization devoted to highlighting the importance of the first three years of life, comments that "modern neuroscience is providing the hard, quantifiable evidence that was missing earlier. . . . because you can see the results under a microscope or in a PET [positron emission tomography] scan" (Nash, 1997, p. 56).
A 1997 White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning, hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton (National PTA, 1997), emphasized new scientific research on brain development in very young children, and underscored how critical children's positive early experiences are to ensuring successful beginnings. The conference was a wake-up call to all Americans - families, government officials, child care providers, and business leaders - stressing the need to use the recent findings to enhance the future of children and America's families (National PTA, 1997). According to the Education Commission of the States (1996), the recent research on brain development has the potential to provide much-needed insight for strengthening the education of young children. According to Carnegie Corporation, the following are five pivotal discoveries that should strengthen America's efforts to equip and prepare young children to start school ready to learn:
* Brain development that takes place prenatally, and in the first years of life, is more rapid and extensive than previously realized
* Brain development is much more vulnerable to environmental influence than ever before suspected
* The influence of early environment on brain development is long-lasting
* The environment affects not only the number of brain cells and the number of connections among them, but also the way these connections are "wired"
* New scientific evidence exists concerning the negative impact of early stress on brain function. (Carnegie Corporation, 1994, p. 2)
The findings of brain development research are astounding. In fact, "the discoveries are so profound that many researchers say we will surely look back on the 1990s as the 'Decade of the Brain'" (Simmons & Sheehan, 1997, p. 1). Moreover, the brain development research findings have serious implications for parents and policymakers (Nash, 1997).
According to Carla Shatz of the University of California, Berkeley, "There are two broad stages of brain wiring; an early period [prenatal], when experience is not required, and a later one, when it is" (Begley, 1996). She continues:
In the beginning, the brain-to-be consists of only a few advance scouts breaking trail: within a week of conception they march out of the embryo's "neural tube," a cylinder of cells extending from head to tail. Multiplying as they go (the brain adds an astonishing 250,000 neurons per minute during gestation), the neurons clump into the brain stem, which commands heartbeat and breathing, build the little cerebellum at the back of the head, which controls posture and movement, and form the grooved and rumpled cortex wherein thought and perception originate. (p. 61)
This hardwiring, which begins as early as a week after conception, provides the basic foundation of brain development, which in turn controls respiration, reflexes, and heartbeat (Begley, 1996; Begley, 1997; Lach, 1997).
While the brain connections