RESEARCHINREVIEW
Young Children’ s Research in Review Column
Its Past and Its Future
Annie Moses and Meghan Salas Atwell
› What is an effective teacher? › How can leaders support inclusion?
› What have we learned about developmentally appropriate practice?
› How does educator well-being impact classroom or program quality?
Early childhood professionals face many questions as they nurture the development of every child. These questions typically connect to a body of research— an ever-growing collection of studies that explores the depth and nuances of early childhood education. A reciprocal relationship between research and practice is critical for ensuring high-quality early learning for all children. Yet too often, researchers and practitioners work in separate spaces.
NAEYC recognizes the important role it plays in bridging these worlds. Over its history, it has pioneered this translational approach by sharing the latest understandings from research through position statements, books, professional development, and its flagship journal. Therefore, we are excited to announce the relaunch of a research-to-practice column in Young Children. It is only fitting that we do so in the issue devoted to NAEYC’ s centennial: The column taps into an important part of Young Children’ s archive and reignites it for NAEYC’ s future. In this edition, we share more about the column’ s past, our vision for its future, and a call for submissions.
On the Research Side
In 1954, the Bulletin of the National Association for Nursery Education introduced a new column called On the Research Side. The first entry,“ Research Concerning the Curiosity of Children,” was written by Margaret McFarland, who was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine( and familiar to some for her mentoring of Fred Rogers and consulting for his television show). She begins by recognizing the importance of early learning programs— nursery schools at that time— in child development research:“ The concepts tested by scientific studies have frequently grown out of the practical experiences and observations of nursery school staff members”( 36).
Case in point, according to McFarland, is Anna Freud’ s work on the personality development of children in English nursery schools during World War II, particularly children’ s questions and curiosity about others and themselves, which can“ often seem intrusive and are frequently difficult to answer directly”( 38). Dr. McFarland connects Freud’ s observations to the work of teachers who field many such questions. It is just these teachers who help children learn boundaries and respect for others’ privacy and still retain the desire to inquire and learn. Knowing about children’ s development is
100 Young Children
Spring 2026