He studied at the University of California at Los Angeles and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 and Doctorate in Philosophy in 1955.
Elkind obtained his doctorate at UCLA and then spent a year as David Rapaport's research assistant at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Elkind is on the editorial board of a number of scientific journals, and is a consultant to state education departments as well as to government agencies and private foundations.
In addition he has published more popular pieces such as children's stories in Jack and Jill, biographies of famous psychologists in the New York Times Magazine, as well as presentations of his own work in Good Housekeeping, Parade and Psychology Today.
Some of his recent articles include "Computers and Young Children," "The Authority of the Brain," "The Cosmopolitan School," "On Becoming a Grandfather," and "Thanks for the Memory: The Lasting Value of True Play."