P O L I C Y B R I E

In their Future of most viewed children’s educational show of all time, Children article, economists Melissa Kearney of the Sesame Street, led to better elementary school University of Maryland (also an editor of the issue) performance for the cohorts of children who had and Phillip Levine of Wellesley College observe that broadcast access to the show during their preschool the social learning tha. [...] For instance, to the extent that example, students who see a connection between increased take-up of a government assistance academics and the kinds of jobs they hope to have program implies greater participation among the in the future are more motivated to work hard in children and relatives of current beneficiaries, we school, and they ultimately have better academic should expect higher progra. [...] Economists Judy Hellerstein of Religion and Religious Institutions the University of Maryland and David Neumark of the University of California, Irvine, define Religion is a key feature of any society, and many social capital as networks of relationships among scholars have investigated the relationship between people who are connected by where they live or it and economic outcomes. [...] Such circumstances are the product of their families, their schools, their neighborhoods, the peers and adults with whom they interact, the media images that shape their perceptions of themselves and their place in the world, and other factors both internal and external to the individual child. [...] In the current issue of Future of Children, we aim to break through some of the impasses and draw on the lessons of scholarly research to highlight evidence and insights that could be used to improve children’s lives.