Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02102-7
Suzanne M. Egan, Jennifer Pope
{"title":"From Infancy in COVID-19 Lockdowns To Starting School in 2024: Teacher Insights on the Influence of the Pandemic for Early Child Development","authors":"Suzanne M. Egan, Jennifer Pope","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02102-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02102-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145961986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02079-3
Lukas Ljungcrantz
This study offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Early Childhood Education (ECE) research, focusing on publications from 2020 to 2024. The primary objectives are to map, analyse and answer research questions about the landscape of AI and ECE. The review process involved searching databases, including Scopus, ERIC, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. 39 studies were selected after applying exclusion criteria to ensure relevance to AI and ECE. This review adopts an international perspective, incorporating studies written in English, aiming to provide a global view of trends and practice of AI and ECE. Furthermore, the review categorises AI into classifications such as Traditional AI and Generative AI to identify trends within this field. The content analysis covers publication frequency, participant demographics, methodological approaches, and AI classifications while highlighting existing gaps in the current research on AI and ECE. The findings reveal a significant increase in AI research within ECE from 2020 to 2024, with a notable rise in publications in 2024. The results show that studies predominantly focus on children aged 4–6 and employ mixed-method approaches. Despite advancements, gaps in long-term studies, diverse population inclusion, and comprehensive ethical frameworks remain, underscoring the need for future research to address these issues.
本研究对人工智能（AI）和幼儿教育（ECE）研究的最新进展进行了全面回顾，重点关注了2020年至2024年的出版物。主要目标是绘制、分析和回答有关人工智能和欧洲经委会景观的研究问题。审查过程包括检索数据库，包括Scopus， ERIC, SpringerLink， ScienceDirect和Web of Science。在应用排除标准后，选择了39项研究，以确保与AI和ECE的相关性。本综述采用国际视角，纳入以英语撰写的研究，旨在提供人工智能和欧洲经委会的趋势和实践的全球视角。此外，该评论将人工智能分为传统人工智能和生成人工智能等类别，以确定该领域的趋势。内容分析涵盖了发表频率、参与者人口统计、方法方法和人工智能分类，同时强调了当前人工智能和欧洲经委会研究中存在的差距。研究结果显示，从2020年到2024年，欧洲经委会的人工智能研究显著增加，2024年的出版物显著增加。结果表明，研究主要集中在4-6岁的儿童身上，并采用混合方法。尽管取得了进展，但在长期研究、多样化的人群纳入和全面的伦理框架方面仍然存在差距，这强调了未来研究解决这些问题的必要性。
{"title":"The Interaction of AI and Early Childhood Education. A State-of-the-art Review 2020–2024","authors":"Lukas Ljungcrantz","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02079-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02079-3","url":null,"abstract":"This study offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Early Childhood Education (ECE) research, focusing on publications from 2020 to 2024. The primary objectives are to map, analyse and answer research questions about the landscape of AI and ECE. The review process involved searching databases, including Scopus, ERIC, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. 39 studies were selected after applying exclusion criteria to ensure relevance to AI and ECE. This review adopts an international perspective, incorporating studies written in English, aiming to provide a global view of trends and practice of AI and ECE. Furthermore, the review categorises AI into classifications such as Traditional AI and Generative AI to identify trends within this field. The content analysis covers publication frequency, participant demographics, methodological approaches, and AI classifications while highlighting existing gaps in the current research on AI and ECE. The findings reveal a significant increase in AI research within ECE from 2020 to 2024, with a notable rise in publications in 2024. The results show that studies predominantly focus on children aged 4–6 and employ mixed-method approaches. Despite advancements, gaps in long-term studies, diverse population inclusion, and comprehensive ethical frameworks remain, underscoring the need for future research to address these issues.","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145955084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02107-2
Tutrang Nguyen, Robert C. Pianta, Jessica Vick Whittaker, Virginia E. Vitiello, Laura Helferstay, Erik Ruzek
One salient feature of classroom processes that has been shown to be a key support for students’ academic performance is the dosage of, or exposure to, academic content. The effects of dosage are presumed to accumulate as students are exposed to content over time. The present study examines associations between students’ academic skills at the end of first grade and average exposure to content in classroom teaching across three grades—pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade —for a diverse sample of students from low-income households (White = 5%, Black = 11%, Hispanic = 77%, Other = 7%; English at home = 19%, Spanish at home = 56%; other language at home = 25%). Also examined is the extent to which such associations with academic outcomes are conditioned by the rigor of academic content and quality of teacher-student interactions. 1,220 children were followed from public pre-k through first grade (mean age = 55 months old at the start of pre-k, SD = 3.5). Analyses adjusting for family, classroom, and child factors as well as performance at the start of pre-k find that more instructional time on literacy and language content across pre-k to first grade is beneficial for students when coupled with high-quality teacher-student interactions over that span. No significant associations with classroom process variables were detected for math outcomes. Implications of these findings for instructional practice, professional development, and quality improvement initiatives are discussed.
{"title":"Associations Between Classroom Processes and Students’ Academic Outcomes from Pre-Kindergarten Through First Grade","authors":"Tutrang Nguyen, Robert C. Pianta, Jessica Vick Whittaker, Virginia E. Vitiello, Laura Helferstay, Erik Ruzek","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02107-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02107-2","url":null,"abstract":"One salient feature of classroom processes that has been shown to be a key support for students’ academic performance is the dosage of, or exposure to, academic content. The effects of dosage are presumed to accumulate as students are exposed to content over time. The present study examines associations between students’ academic skills at the end of first grade and average exposure to content in classroom teaching across three grades—pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade —for a diverse sample of students from low-income households (White = 5%, Black = 11%, Hispanic = 77%, Other = 7%; English at home = 19%, Spanish at home = 56%; other language at home = 25%). Also examined is the extent to which such associations with academic outcomes are conditioned by the rigor of academic content and quality of teacher-student interactions. 1,220 children were followed from public pre-k through first grade (mean age = 55 months old at the start of pre-k, SD = 3.5). Analyses adjusting for family, classroom, and child factors as well as performance at the start of pre-k find that more instructional time on literacy and language content across pre-k to first grade is beneficial for students when coupled with high-quality teacher-student interactions over that span. No significant associations with classroom process variables were detected for math outcomes. Implications of these findings for instructional practice, professional development, and quality improvement initiatives are discussed.","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145902436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-29DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02084-6
Gizem Tellioglu Kayır, Tuğçe Akyol
{"title":"The Effect of Digital Story Tools Training on Teachers’ Competence in the Use of Digital Story Tools and Children’s Environmental Attitudes and Awareness","authors":"Gizem Tellioglu Kayır, Tuğçe Akyol","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02084-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02084-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145847165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02071-x
Maria Rossall
Since the 1980s, the term competence has become increasingly common across sectors, including Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In Sweden, reforms aimed at strengthening school readiness reshape interpretations of competence, with implications for the notion of the competent child , prevailing in Swedish ECEC since the 1990s. Competence is here understood as context-bound knowledge, experience, and ability. This study examines how competence is positioned in Swedish ECEC research in relation to international work, to show how shifting approaches to competence influence understandings of young children’s agency, learning conditions, and ongoing policy development. Using a scoping review, patterns are analysed in Swedish and international publications from 1994 to 2023. The corpus comprises over 4,000 studies, including 95 single-country studies and 148 mixed-country collaborations. Nearly half of the studies stem from the United States, with Sweden ranking among the top ten worldwide. Compared with the international field, Swedish studies more strongly emphasise teachers’ competencies and teacher–child relationship quality, alongside a clearer focus on children’s agency and competence to participate in ECEC. The contribution is threefold: (1) it maps how competence has been conceptualized in Swedish ECEC research over three decades; (2) it shows convergences with international work while identifying Sweden’s distinctive relational and agency-oriented emphases; and (3) it situates these findings within current reforms, including proposals to lower the age for compulsory schooling. The study demonstrates how competence as a concept travels across contexts and themes, clarifying how research emphases inform policy and practice for the youngest children.
{"title":"Competence in Transition: Swedish Early Childhood Education and Care in the Light of Policy Reforms and International Literature (1994–2023)","authors":"Maria Rossall","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02071-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02071-x","url":null,"abstract":"Since the 1980s, the term <jats:italic>competence</jats:italic> has become increasingly common across sectors, including <jats:italic>Early Childhood Education and Care</jats:italic> (ECEC). In Sweden, reforms aimed at strengthening school readiness reshape interpretations of competence, with implications for the notion of the <jats:italic>competent child</jats:italic> , prevailing in Swedish ECEC since the 1990s. Competence is here understood as context-bound knowledge, experience, and ability. This study examines how competence is positioned in Swedish ECEC research in relation to international work, to show how shifting approaches to competence influence understandings of young children’s agency, learning conditions, and ongoing policy development. Using a scoping review, patterns are analysed in Swedish and international publications from 1994 to 2023. The corpus comprises over 4,000 studies, including 95 single-country studies and 148 mixed-country collaborations. Nearly half of the studies stem from the United States, with Sweden ranking among the top ten worldwide. Compared with the international field, Swedish studies more strongly emphasise teachers’ competencies and teacher–child relationship quality, alongside a clearer focus on children’s agency and competence to participate in ECEC. The contribution is threefold: (1) it maps how competence has been conceptualized in Swedish ECEC research over three decades; (2) it shows convergences with international work while identifying Sweden’s distinctive relational and agency-oriented emphases; and (3) it situates these findings within current reforms, including proposals to lower the age for compulsory schooling. The study demonstrates how competence as a concept travels across contexts and themes, clarifying how research emphases inform policy and practice for the youngest children.","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145808089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02096-2
Ceyhun Servi, Yunus Emre Baştuğ
{"title":"The Relationship Between Language and Drawing in Autism","authors":"Ceyhun Servi, Yunus Emre Baştuğ","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02096-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02096-2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145808098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02103-6
Bridget Coffie, Kathleen E. Davis, Cynthia Warren, Jean Keller, Wanyi Wang, Tao Zhang
Preschool is a critical time to establish healthy eating and physical activity (PA) habits, yet most preschoolers and their caregivers do not consume overall healthy diets or meet PA recommendations. This before and after study assessed whether a multi-level intervention using the social ecological model, the Head Start to Healthy Lifestyles (HSHL) project, improved dietary intake and PA among Head Start preschoolers and their caregivers. In year 2 of the project, HSHL was integrated into 8 Head Start preschool centers in Denton and Tarrant Counties in North Texas, U.S.A, serving 460 preschool-aged children and their caregivers. Weekly, 30-minute nutrition and PA activities were delivered to preschoolers in classrooms for 9 months. Caregivers received online nutrition and PA content. Fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition-related knowledge, PA, and sedentary behaviors were evaluated using McNemar and Wilcoxon’s tests. From 177 completed pre-surveys (12 duplicates) and 174 post-surveys (13 duplicates), 44 matched surveys were identified. Caregivers were predominantly female (95%), and aged 18–59 years. Children were 3–5 years old. Children decreased drinking fruit juice ( p = 0.044) and increased engaging in PA ( p = 0.001). There were increases in caregivers’ fruit consumption ( p = 0.023), use of MyPlate to plan meals ( p = 0.006), and use of food labels ( p = 0.005). The findings suggest that educational interventions may promote healthier lifestyle behaviors in Head Start preschoolers and caregivers.
{"title":"Project Head Start to Healthy Lifestyles (HSHL): A Multilevel Intervention to Improve Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Levels among Head Start Preschoolers and Their Caregivers","authors":"Bridget Coffie, Kathleen E. Davis, Cynthia Warren, Jean Keller, Wanyi Wang, Tao Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s10643-025-02103-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-02103-6","url":null,"abstract":"Preschool is a critical time to establish healthy eating and physical activity (PA) habits, yet most preschoolers and their caregivers do not consume overall healthy diets or meet PA recommendations. This before and after study assessed whether a multi-level intervention using the social ecological model, the Head Start to Healthy Lifestyles (HSHL) project, improved dietary intake and PA among Head Start preschoolers and their caregivers. In year 2 of the project, HSHL was integrated into 8 Head Start preschool centers in Denton and Tarrant Counties in North Texas, U.S.A, serving 460 preschool-aged children and their caregivers. Weekly, 30-minute nutrition and PA activities were delivered to preschoolers in classrooms for 9 months. Caregivers received online nutrition and PA content. Fruit and vegetable intake, nutrition-related knowledge, PA, and sedentary behaviors were evaluated using McNemar and Wilcoxon’s tests. From 177 completed pre-surveys (12 duplicates) and 174 post-surveys (13 duplicates), 44 matched surveys were identified. Caregivers were predominantly female (95%), and aged 18–59 years. Children were 3–5 years old. Children decreased drinking fruit juice ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.044) and increased engaging in PA ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.001). There were increases in caregivers’ fruit consumption ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.023), use of MyPlate to plan meals ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.006), and use of food labels ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.005). The findings suggest that educational interventions may promote healthier lifestyle behaviors in Head Start preschoolers and caregivers.","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145770647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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