Margaret Bridges
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Margaret Bridges
Senior Research Scientist, Institute of Human Development,
University of California, Berkeley
Margaret Bridges is a developmental psychologist and research scientist with the Institute of Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley. She studies how family and preschool experiences influence the socio-emotional development and early academic skills of young children, as well as how families can be supported to prepare their young children for school. She is leading the effort to build the new Early Development & Learning Science Program at UC Berkeley, a transdisciplinary, developmental science program focused on young children from the prenatal period to age 8. She received her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Virginia.
updated 2010
Publications by Margaret Bridges
California’s Quality Education Investment Act
In a new PACE Working Paper, Margaret Bridges and Bruce Fuller from the University of California, Berkeley; Andrew McEachin and Icela Pelayo, from University of Southern California; and Neal Finkelstein from WestEd, San Francisco worked together to…
The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children’s Social and Cognitive Development
Previous research has demonstrated that attending center care is associated with cognitive benefits for young children. However, little is known about the ideal age for children to enter such care or the "right" amount of time, both weekly and…
The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children’s Development Nationwide
Young children, at least among those from poor families and within the domains of cognitive growth and school readiness, benefit from exposure to preschool or childcare centers. Carefully controlled experiments, exemplified by the Perry Preschool or…
Ideals, Evidence, and Policy Options
The evidence is quite clear—after a half-century of research—that many children benefit from quality preschooling in terms of cognitive growth. Over 60% of California’s four-year-olds now attend a preschool center at least part-time. Yet enrollment…