This volume explores whether the nation's early childhood programs are boosting child development and preparing children for schooling and proposes reforms that would improve the programs. The volume contains contrasting papers on the success of Head Start, Early Head Start, and home-visiting programs and on policies that would improve these three programs. This volume contains the following papers: (1) Introduction: New Directions for America's Early Childhood Policies (Ron Haskins and W. Steven Barnett); (2) Getting the Most out of Early Head Start: What Has Been Accomplished and What Needs to be Done (John M. Love and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn); (3) Ten Ideas for Improving Early Head Start--and Why the Program Needs Them (Nicholas Zill); (4) Leave No (Young) Child Behind: Prioritizing Access in Early Education (Jens Ludwig and Deborah A. Phillips); (5) Head Start: Strategies to Improve Outcomes for Children Living in Poverty (Craig T. Ramey and Sharon Landesman Ramey); (6) The Nurse-Family Partnership (David Olds); (7) Strengthening Home-Visiting Intervention Policy: Expanding Reach, Building Knowledge (Deborah Daro and Kenneth A. Dodge); and (8) Coordinating America's Highly Diversified Early Childhood Investment Portfolio (Walter S. Gilliam). (Individual papers contain tables and notes.)