Child development “laboratory schools are dedicated to research-based instruction and furthering innovation in education. Many of these schools are connected to universities, where students are able to benefit from university resources and best practices” (Khan, 2014). They have been in existence on university campuses for centuries in the United States. The earliest colonial colleges (e.g., Harvard, Yale, William and Mary, University of Pennsylvania) administered Latin schools or departments to prepare students for college (Good & Teller, 1973). Rutgers Preparatory School was founded in 1768 and was linked to the university until the 1950s (Sperduto, 1967). During the course of time, the laboratory schools have changed to meet the needs of the teaching professionals and have frequently guided the instructional methods to improve the science and art of teaching [International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS), 2018]. They have also changed throughout the years from part-day, part-time programs (McBride, 1996, Myers & Palmer, 2017) to full-day child care, some of which is inclusive of care offered through student service funds (Keyes, 1984; Shirah, 1988). Throughout the previous century, college and university institutions have established child development laboratory schools. In the early 1900s, they were initially considered to be sites for the recent discipline of child study but their purposes have progressed gradually. They also have assumed a fundamental function in promoting teaching, research, and service (such as outreach/engagement practice) in child development and early childhood education. However, a lot of them had to struggle for their survival when economic periods turned out to be problematic. Several extended operating programs were discontinued (Barbour & McBride, 2017). In 1894 John Dewey founded the University of Chicago Laboratory School. His laboratory school is unquestionably the most well-known of experimental schools. It was used to research, develop, and confirm innovative theories and principles of child development and education. Later at the beginning of the early 1900s, exemplary schools were developed as important centers for the preparation of teachers. Dewey’s laboratory school and the preparation of interns in a hospital were used as a model for laboratory schools to focus on methodical research, dual faculty university appointments, and the preparation of preservice teachers. During the initial half of the 20th century, laboratory schools increased in colleges and universities, especially between 1920 and 1940. University-based child development laboratory programs assumed a critical responsibility in contributing to the knowledge base on child development and early childhood education as well as the professional development of early childhood educators. This concept of the child development laboratory schools has heavily influenced modern views. Researchers and educators need to understand the current sources based on theoretical frameworks that contribute to the purposes of the child development laboratory schools. The contents of the volume reflect the major shifts in the views of early childhood researchers and educators in relation to the research on child development laboratory schools, the role of child development laboratory programs in early childhood education, and their relationship to theory, research, and practice. The chapters in this special volume reviews and critically analyzes the literature on several aspects of the child development laboratory schools. This volume can be a valuable tool to researchers who are conducting studies in the child development laboratory schools and practitioners who are working directly or indirectly in these schools. It focuses on important contemporary issues on child development laboratory schools in early childhood education (ages 0 to 8) to provide the information necessary to make judgments about these issues. It also motivates and guides researchers to explore gaps in the child development laboratory schools’ literature.

Child care environments have received extensive research attention by those interested in understanding how participating in nonparental child care might influence the children's development and learning. Throughout the United States (US Census Bureau, 2011) and Europe (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006) a large number of young children are cared for outside of the home by non-parental adults. Young children’s nonparental care is commonly referred to as "child care,” and is provided to children whose ages range from birth to 12 years of age. The provision of child care services has become an increasingly important part of early childhood education. In fact, the United Nations Children's Fund (2019) states that a large majority of children worldwide spend at least some of their week in child care, such arrangements include center care, family child care, in-home child care, relative child care, and supplemental child care. Child care researchers have been conducting studies to understand how participating in nonparental child care might influence the children's development and learning outcomes. There are more than enough child care studies to make numerous major inferences. For example, research outcomes show that child care quality seems to be more influential than either the kind of child care or age of admission in determining the children’s development and learning. The adults’ child care affects the quality in child care. In the environment adults who are caring for the children have the opportunity to effectively assume both nurturing and instructional roles to help young children cultivate their social and cognitive abilities. The teachers’ effectiveness is related to their individual characteristics, such as formal education, specialized training, and the classroom environment. However, the majority of the studies show that both family and quality of child care have the most significant effects on the children’s development and learning. Therefore, the concept of child care has heavily influenced modern views. Researchers, scholars, and educators are beginning to understand the current foundations based on theoretical frameworks that contribute to the purposes of the child care in the United States and Europe. The contents of the child care volume reflect the major shifts in the views of these early childhood researchers, scholars, and educators in relation to research outcomes on child care, its historical roots, the role of child care in early childhood education, and its relationship to theory, research, and practice.

Immigration is when individuals leave their country of residency to permanently settle in a different country. According to the United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in 2017 a cumulative of 258 million persons were residents in a country that differed from their own. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the increase in prohibited immigration impelled the United States (US) to propose a number of immigration laws. In 2012, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which allowed undocumented immigrants to work legally without being deported as long as they maintain a useful and lawful status. Approximately 800,000 immigrants attained DACA standing, permitting them to legally work and go to school in the US. Furthermore, the immigration law of 1965 prompted an excessive entrance of multicultural immigrants to the United States which brought about a great representation of children who live with immigrant families. These children faced several environmental structures which were affected by changes and multiplicity in their family situations. Immigrant children attempted to understand a different culture, values, and emerging issues in relation to their assimilation paths. The purpose of this volume is to offer a complete representation of the way immigrant children and families respond and develop in the US and Europe. It will extend current knowledge and reinforce contemporary frameworks that associate the cultural differences between immigrant families and teachers. In the classroom environment teachers have the opportunity to effectively assume both nurturing and instructional roles to aid young children to cultivate their social and cognitive abilities. The teachers’ personal characteristics, formal education, specialized training, and cultural knowledge may affect their effectiveness in the classroom environment. Most of the studies show that both family and teachers have the most significant effects on the children’s development and learning. Immigration researchers and scholars were invited to review, critically analyze, discuss, and submit a manuscript for the volume titled, Contemporary Perspectives on Research on Immigration in Early Childhood Education. The concept of immigration has heavily influenced modern views in early childhood education. Researchers, scholars, and educators need to understand the current sources based on theoretical frameworks that contribute to the purposes of immigration in the United States and Europe. The contents of the volume reflect the major shifts in the views of early childhood researchers, scholars, and educators in relation to the research on immigration, its historical roots, the role of immigration in early childhood education, and its relationship to theory, research, and practice.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is also known as SARS-CoV-2, has had a great impact in early childhood education programs. Since the effect of this epidemic was new, and little research had been conducted, this volume is devoted to understanding mutual and contemporary themes in the impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early childhood education. Early childhood education (ECE) centers encountered unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis. Comprehensive reviews of the literature, descriptions of programs or situations, and research studies provided accounts of current situations in early childhood education including programs and individuals who were working with young children whose ages ranged from birth to eight years of age. The chapters in this special volume discuss how early childhood education faced unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis and demonstrate the breadth and theoretical effectiveness of this domain. This volume provides a brief introduction that acknowledges the valuable contributions of these chapters to the impact of this pandemic in early childhood education and offers a valuable tool to practitioners and researchers who are conducting studies on the impact of COVID-19. At the beginning of the year 2020, after a December 2019 outburst in China, the World Health Organization acknowledged SARS-CoV-2 as a different kind of coronavirus. It immediately multiplied around the world, mostly through person-to-person contact. Infections ranged from mild to deadly. COVID-19 can cause a respiratory tract infection such as ones sinuses, nose, and throat or lower respiratory tract such as ones windpipe and lungs (World Health Organization, 2020a). On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) affirmed that COVID-19 had become a public health emergency causing an international problem. By March 12, 2020, everybody was aware of this pandemic. It also created an understanding about this first-time consciousness in research about this disease, which generated an immense publication production. It also became the basis for this special volume.

Recently, a new understanding of creative thought and creative performance has surfaced. It has also attracted the attention of early childhood professional organizations and researchers. Professional organizations have included it in their publications and conferences. While current creativity researchers have initiated a far more sophisticated understanding of young children’s creative thinking, ways to assess creativity, strategies to promote creativity, and research methodologies. The purpose of this volume is to present a wide range of different theories and areas in the study of creativity to help researchers and theorists work toward the development of different perspectives on creativity with young children. It focuses on critical analyses and reviews of the literature on topics related to creativity research, development, theories, and practices. It will serve as a reference for early childhood education researchers, scholars, academics, general educators, teacher educators, teachers, graduate students, and scientists to stimulate further “dialogue” on ways to enhance creativity. The chapters are of high quality and provide scholarly analyses of research studies that capture the full range of approaches to the study of creativity --- behavioral, clinical, cognitive, cross-cultural, developmental, educational, genetic, organizational, psychoanalytic, psychometric, and social. Interdisciplinary research is also included, as is research within specific domains such as art and science, as well as on critical issues (e.g., aesthetics, genius, imagery, imagination, insight, intuition, metaphor, play, problem finding and solving). Thus, it offers critical analyses on reviews of research in a form that are useful to early childhood researchers, scholars, educators, and graduate students. It also places the current research in its historical context. The volume is also of interest to the general readers who are interested in the young children’s creativity. The chapters are authored by established scholars in the field of young children’s creativity.

This international and multi-disciplinary edited collection unpacks some of the ethical complexities of conducting research with children and young people. The chapters in the volume offer an applied perspective to navigating contemporary and complicated ethical issues that can arise in the field of childhood and youth-centred research.

Researchers, educators, professional organizations, administrators, parents, and policy makers have increased their involvement in the assessment and evaluation of early childhood education programs. This interest has developed swiftly during the last decades. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) developed a position statement titled, “Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8,” to address related trends, issues, guiding principles, and values. Appropriate and well-designed evaluations need to address several audiences including researchers, educators, policy makers, children, and parents. They need to encourage the implementation of a strong foundation that improves the quality of the children’s education. Child assessment and program evaluation can lead to effective results and better accountability for preschool, kindergarten, and primary school programs. The purpose of this volume is to share a collection of research strands on contemporary perspectives on research in assessment and evaluation in early childhood education. It provides a review and critical analysis of the literature on assessment and evaluation of programs, children, teachers, and settings. The volume begins with a brief introductory chapter that presents the reader with a map of the area, laying out the issues and alternatives, and linking these to the chapters that follow. It addresses several areas including (1) understanding assessment and evaluation with young children, (2) schools and assessment implications, (3) teacher evaluation and professional development, (4) social relationships and assessment, (5) content areas in early education assessment, (6) technology and assessment, and (7) conclusion with future research directions in assessment and evaluation in early childhood education. The volume is of interest to researchers, educators, policy makers, university faculty, graduate students, and general readers who are interested in research on assessment and evaluation in early childhood education. The chapters are authored by established scholars in the field.

Early childhood education has always been an enterprising one. Innovative models that provide connections among the family, community, and school of early childhood will continue to emerge through the years to acknowledge new educational ideologies, new social demands, and new knowledge. The issues addressed in this volume can provide new directions to prepare early childhood scholars, researchers, and practitioners to work as a team in these different settings.

The chapters in this book reflect on the major shifts in the views of early childhood thinkers and educators, who have contributed to contemporary theoretical frameworks pertaining to early childhood learning. The book also revisits and critically analyses the influence of developmental theories on early childhood education, starting in the 1890s with the work of G. Stanley Hall that established the close association of early childhood education and child development. Several chapters comprise critical examinations of the fundamental influence of thinkers such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Adler, Pestalozzi, Froebel, and so on, on early childhood learning. The book also contends that these theoretical conceptions of child development have heavily influenced modern views of early childhood education. This book is a significant new contribution to early childhood learning, and will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Education, Public Policy, History of Education, Psychology, and Sociology. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Early Child Development and Care.

Contemporary Perspectives and Research on Early Childhood Education is a welcome addition to the field of early childhood education. This book enhances the understanding of different approaches to curriculum and instruction; appropriate assessment strategies; the role of math and science in children’s development; the importance of seeing the whole child and ensuring children develop holistically through play and arts; training effective teachers; and the importance of helping parents to be better supporters of their children. Along with this comprehensive content, the book also contains diverse methodologies including qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method approaches, which will further enrich the reader’s perspective and understanding of a wide range of topics in the field. Thus, this book creates a platform for researchers and practitioners to share and discuss research findings, expertise, and experiences about early childhood education.