The mission of the Penn Child Research Center is to promote the educational and psychological well-being of children through the application of informed social and scientific policy.

Founded in 2005 with funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and The William Penn Foundation, Penn Child Research focuses on three primary activities: 

• Research to advance the comprehensive understanding of children as they learn and develop in the context of family, school, and community 
• Production and analysis of high quality evidence for the formation of effective public policies regarding children and their communities and for the advancement of fundamental scientific inquiry on children’s learning and development 
• Design and validation of evidenced-based assessment and intervention on behalf of all children, especially those most vulnerable