News: Learning & Education
Gen Z and Career Journeys: Navigation in a Time of Economic Uncertainty and Personal Development
December 9, 2025Adolescence is a critical time in development when we form our identities, explore the world around us, and build the skills we need to succeed economically in adulthood. Today’s young adults are coming of age in a world of uncertainty, with changing technological and economic landscapes. In a new joint blog post with the ASA Center for Career Navigation at JFF, Jobs for the Future’s Erica Bouris and CDA’s Natalie Saragosa-Harris explore how adolescents navigate their careers and build their economic lives during adolescence, and offer ways to support young people as they navigate educational and career decisions during periods of economic uncertainty.
Press Releases
February 25, 2025: Announcing the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent’s 2024 Annual Report
January 17, 2023: New Guides Help Organizations Build Effective Youth Engagement Programs
August 16, 2021: New Report Examines Intersection of Anti-Black Racism on Youth Development
November 30, 2020: Center for the Developing Adolescent Announces New Advisory Board Members
October 1, 2020: Center for the Developing Adolescent Announces New Leadership
Stay in the Know
The Middle School Transition Is Tough. How Educators Can Help
November 13, 2025A new Education Week article, quoting NSCA members Joanna Williams and Rhonda Boyd during a UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent media briefing, highlights how educators can play a pivotal role in supporting early adolescents’ social, emotional, and physical needs when given systemic support and instruction informed by developmental science.
How COVID Shaped a Resilient Generation of Kids
March 14, 2025NSCA Member Candice Odgers spoke with Scientific American about how although COVID took an emotional and educational strain on children and teens they are far from a ‘lost generation.’ “There’s a resilience story to be told from this,” says Odgers.
Using the science of the adolescent brain to develop a more effective way to teach
February 24, 2025At a Philadelphia Learning Collaborative forum entitled “Making (Brain) Waves,” Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni spoke to teachers and administrators about adolescent brain development in an effort to design more effective school programs.
Are Parents Giving Their Kids Too Many Mental Health Days?
October 21, 2024“It’s not that we want to dampen strong emotions, we want to support adolescents’ ability to work with those emotions to think about what they mean and how to regulate them and put them to good uses,” said Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni in a new Education Week article discussing whether or not parents are allowing their kids too many days out of school due to mental health.
Leveraging the Opportunity of Adolescence to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism
March 14, 2024UCLA CDA Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni and Policy and Practice Director Elise Brumbach explain how insights from developmental science could help schools promote attendance and engagement for middle and high school students.
A Campus Space for LGBTQ Students Closed. A ‘Women’s Community Center’ Took Its Place.
February 12, 2024Research shows that students do better in school when they feel safe, and LGBTQ+ centers make them feel both safe and seen, explains NSCA member Stephen Russell in this piece about what is lost when diversity, equity, and inclusion bans take effect at colleges and universities.
The Stages of Adolescent Brain Development With UCLA’s Adriana Galván, PhD
October 24, 2023In this presentation for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, our Co-executive Director Adriana Galván presents insights into adolescent brain development and shows how better understanding this developmental period can inform and improve programs and services focused on youth well-being.
Want to understand your adolescent? Get to know their brain.
May 23, 2023NPR science corresponded Jon Hamilton spoke with our Co-Executive Director Adriana Galván and other researchers about why the adolescent brain is "a marvel."
Calculating the Emotional Cost of Remote Learning
August 19, 2021CDA board chair Dr. Ron Dahl talks with reporter Rebecca Bodenheimer about the effects of pandemic-related distancing on the social-emotional learning that is so central to adolescent development.
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