URI Child Development Centers host International Association of Laboratory Schools’ Annual Conference

March 19, 2025
Jessica MacLeod, director of the Kingston Child Development Center, leads a discussion on laboratory schools in the on-campus preschool, while hosting the annual conference of the International Association of Laboratory Schools.
Jessica MacLeod, director of the Kingston Child Development Center, leads a discussion on laboratory schools in the on-campus preschool, while hosting the annual conference of the International Association of Laboratory Schools.

Laboratory schools, including those at URI, provide experiential learning for college students, comprehensive education for pre-school children

The University of Rhode Island Child Development Centers hosted the International Association of Laboratory Schools’ annual conference, offering participants an opportunity to explore how the perspectives of educators, students, and parents help guide the research, policies, and practices of lab schools worldwide.

The conference drew 112 participants from seven countries, representing 32 laboratory schools, which are designed to assist in preparing professional teachers while delivering quality instructional programs for children in the classroom. Lab school leaders, teachers, and university faculty members from across the U.S. and Canada—and from as far as Finland, Nepal, and Thailand—traveled to URI to witness its College of Health Sciences’ laboratory preschool program in action to inform their own lab school practices. URI hosts two lab schools—the Child Development Center on the Kingston Campus and its counterpart in Providence.

“It was an absolute honor and privilege to be invited to host this year’s International Association of Laboratory Schools Conference at URI,” said Jessica MacLeod, director of the Kingston CDC. “To have this prominent, international professional organization recognize and celebrate the outstanding work of URI’s two Child Development Centers is quite significant in positioning the University as a leader among laboratory school programs across the globe.”

Presentations at the conference addressed such issues as how lab schools can include children’s perspectives to shape research, policy, and practice; how to partner with different groups on- and off-campus to inform and enhance a lab school; and how lab schools can navigate tension between the perspectives of various stakeholders. Over the course of three days, the conference included a storytelling session by Valerie Tutson of Rhode Island Black Storytellers, multiple engaging presentations, and a research poster presentation. Attendees visited both URI Child Development Centers, and other local schools in the area.

“Laboratory schools’ research, policies, and teaching practices are informed by the voices of many stakeholders from their universities and surrounding communities,” MacLeod said. “I am deeply impressed with the work of all our teachers who helped to shape and facilitate this year’s IALS conference at URI.”

IALS is an international association of university or college-affiliated schools engaged in the practice of teacher training, curriculum development, research, professional growth, and educational experimentation for the purpose of supporting member schools.

URI’s Child Development Centers offer high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs for children ages three to five years. Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the full-day preschool programs provide educational opportunities for pre-primary children, serve as a teacher training facility, support research in the field of early childhood education, and serve the community as a model of best practice in early care and education through outreach and advocacy.