This document consists of the four issues of a newsletter published during 1996-1998. This newsletter provides a periodic update on the activities of the Early Childhood Research Working Group (ECRWG), organized in 1995 by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal government departments and agencies to promote interagency cooperation and public-private partnerships in early childhood research. Articles include: "Family Support: Program, Philosophy, Approach or Movement?" (Sharon L. Kagan, Michelle J. Neuman); "What a Difference a State Makes: Tracking the Well-Being of Young Children and Families" (Jane Knitzer, J. Lawrence Aber); "Early Childhood Development and the America Reads Challenge" (Carol Hampton Rasco); and "Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods" (Felton Earls). (AA)