PREFACE

The case for child development laboratory programs has never been more pressing than it is at this time. The three-part mission of facilitating and supporting teaching, research, and outreach activities has guided the activities of child development laboratory programs since their inception. Although these programs continue to be important players in the child development and early childhood education arenas, many are being asked to provide justification for their continued existence. In recent years campuses have reconsidered, reconceptualized, and restructured the ways in which these laboratory programs fit within the agendas and missions of the universities where they are located, the local communities surrounding the universities, and the child development and early childhood education professions in general.