Early Childhood Education Developmentally Appropriate

¶ … meeting DAP standards while developing your educational program.

Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) standards reflect research in developmental psychology, showing how educators and program directors can adapt an evidence-based practice to meet the needs of all students. While developing my own educational program, knowledge of the DAP philosophy and standards will help me reduce achievement gaps in my classrooms, while remaining a flexible and responsive leader. Learning about DAP standards will impact future human resources decisions as well as all decisions related to resource allocation.

Moreover, DAP standards are particularly effective for educators and administrators like me, who work in challenging environments with a diverse student body. I will continue to work with parents and members of the community to promote DAP standards in culturally appropriate and sensitive ways, with the overall goal of helping each child attain maximum achievement throughout the course of early childhood education. A firm foundation in early childhood can mitigate risks and reduce barriers to success, ranging from barriers related to psychological, physical, or developmental disorders or barriers related to environmental factors at home or in the community. The DAP standards are particularly useful for educators like me, who dislike a "one size fits all" approach and who recognize the various predilections, needs, and backgrounds of students.

2. How will you ensure that the children in your program are learning (and meeting the standards found in the Preschool Learning Foundations) while playing?

Learning takes place during playtime, and to ensure that children are acquiring developmentally-appropriate knowledge and skills, I have reflected fully on the California Preschool Learning Foundations, especially found in the first volume. Preschool is a critical time in a young child's life because of social interactions that can form the foundation of future character. I would make sure that all children whose language of origin is other than English are offered opportunities to acquire English language skills in a natural way, through playtime interaction with peers using verbal games and activities. I would also monitor students during playtime to watch for specific skills acquisition, as well as emotional and social skills evolution. What I have started doing in my classrooms has been to keep an unstructured log of observations for each student. This allows for a nuanced means of assessing student behavior.

I have recognized the importance of the foundations of learning and development, including social-emotional development, language and literacy, English language development, and mathematics skills development. At the preschool level, for example, games can be used to introduce children to geometry and arithmetic as well as English. By keeping a log, I can ensure that all students are deepening their understanding of core foundations, even if the pace and style of learning is individualized and varies from person to person.

3. Why should preschool not look like Kindergarten or elementary school?

Preschools should be less structured than Kindergarten and especially vs. elementary school. Although some structure allows students to concentrate on specific skills development such as in mathematics or English language, playtime is encouraged as the primary means of acquiring such skills. Preschool should also be more "whole child" focused vs. elementary school, even though elementary schools should arguably embrace the whole child concept too. Preschools are ideally more conducive to social learning, and correspondingly also have a greater opportunity for parental and community involvement. Early childhood education in preschool domains can include formal reading, writing, and arithmetic exercises, but these activities are the means to achieve the ultimate goal of building the child's psychosocial foundations and encouraging parental involvement throughout the child's elementary years as well.

4. As a Director how will you ensure your program is developmentally appropriate and not just a push down of Kindergarten and elementary school standards?

As a director, I will ensure my program is developmentally appropriate by making sound human resources decisions, empowering my educators to work in accordance with DAP standards, offering regular professional development and training opportunities, and frequently reviewing my classrooms. I would pay close attention to the learning environment, designing my classrooms to encourage both collaboration and independent play, and choosing materials that are diverse and reflective of the needs of multiple students. Staying abreast of new research in early childhood education will also ensure that my program reflects current standards for best evidence-based practices.