Jana Rice M.Ed.Instructor, Child Development/EducationAmarillo College

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) in Early Childhood Programs

PAEYC Spring ConferenceApril 18, 2009

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

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What is Developmentally Appropriate Practice?

www.naeyc.org

NAEYC Position Statement DAP

Key Messages of the Position Statement

DAP Video Training Clip

“Your Baby’s Development” Handouts

Zero to Three web site

Professional Development

Baby Brain Map

Why is DAP important?

It’s a call to reduce the achievement

gap.

To provide comprehensive,

effective curriculum.

Improving teaching and learning.

Critical Issues in the Current Context

1. Reducing learning gaps and increasing the achievement of all children.

2. Creating improved, better connected educations for preschool and elementary children.

3. Recognizing teacher knowledge and decision making as vital to educational effectiveness.

1. What is known about child development and learning—referring to knowledge of age-related characteristics that permits general predictions about what experiences are likely to best promote children’s learning and development.

3 Core Considerations in DAP

2. What is known about each child as an individual—referring to what practitioners learn about each child that has implications for how to best adapt and be responsive to that individual variation.

3. What is known about the social and cultural contexts in which children live—referring to the values, expectations, and behavioral and linguistic conventions that shape children’s lives at home and in their communities that practitioners must strive to understand in order to ensure that learning experiences in the program or school are meaningful, relevant, and respectful for each child and family.

When thinking about how to implement DAP…

Ongoing observations about a child’s unique skills, progress, interests, resources and needs is at the heart of individualizing the curriculum.

Some of these strategies include:

• Recording children’s behavior to identify current functioning and emerging skills.• Communicating with parents and other caregivers about behavior in the home

and other settings.• Identifying different ways children learn and expanding the experiences to

incorporate different learning styles; and• Modifying the materials, experiences, or environment to encourage new skills.

Learning and development are most likely to occur when:– New experiences build on

what a child already knows and is able to do.

– Those learning experiences also entail the child stretching a reasonable amount in acquiring new skills, abilities, or knowledge.

After the child reaches that new level of mastery in skill or understanding, – The teacher reflects

on what goals should come next;

– And the cycle continues advancing children’s learning in a developmentally appropriate way.

Such effective teaching doesn’t happen by chance.

– A hallmark of developmentally appropriate teaching is intentionality.

– Good teachers are intentional in everything they do—setting up the classroom, planning curriculum, making use of various teaching strategies, assessing children, interacting with them, and working with their families.

– Intentional teachers are purposeful and thoughtful about the actions they take.

– Teachers direct their teaching toward the goals the program is trying to help the children reach.

1. Creating a caring community of learners.

2. Teaching to enhance development and

learning.

Guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice

3. Planning curriculum to achieve important goals.

4. Assessing children’s development and learning.

5. Establishing reciprocal relationships with families.

Post-ItEach person needs 5 post-it notes.

There are 5 charts posted around the room.

Each chart contains one of the guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice.

Your task is to write down one thing you do as a teacher to meet each of these guidelines (include the age you care for).

Then place each post-it on the proper chart.

After the post-its are in place, we will go in groups of 5-10 people and read the ideas shared.

Write down at least 2 ideas you want to try in your classroom on Monday morning or in the future!

Young children need and deserve professionals who are both caring and informed.

Resources

• NAEYC, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, 3rd edition, 2009; www.naeyc.org

• Zero to Three, www.zerotothree.org• Developmental Screening, Assessment, and

Evaluation: Key Elements Individualizing Curricula in Early Head Start Programs, Early Head Start National Resource Center, 1996