Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

What's In This Kit?
This training kit is designed to introduce teachers to the essentials of developmentally appropriate practices in early care and education. It contains:

• Expected training outcomes
• Preparation instructions
• Training strategies and tips
• Implementation steps
• Follow-up activities for teachers
• Follow-up activities for administrators/directors
• A learning assessment
• A training evaluation/further needs assessment
• A resource list
• The article "Recognizing the Essentials of Developmentally Appropriate Practice" by Marjorie Kostelnik
• A training certificate to award to teachers for attendance and participation
• A certificate for the trainer and other presenters

Who's the Target Audience?
The target audience for this kit is for beginning teachers working with children from age birth to 8.

Teacher Skill Level

beginning intermediate advanced

Children's Age Level

infants toddlers preschoolers school-agers birth to 8

Kit Timeline:
Preparation time for this kit is 1.0 hour. Implementation time is estimated at 1.5 . 2.0 hours

Training Outcomes:

1. Teachers will define developmentally appropriate practice as an approach to informed decision making within the context of the early childhood classroom.
2. Teachers will identify three essential components or principles of developmentally appropriate practice.
3. Teachers will understand that developmentally appropriate practice is more than a list of dos and don'ts.
4. Teachers will identify misconceptions about developmentally appropriate practice.
5. Teachers will show how an understanding of early childhood education and development supports developmentally appropriate practice.
6. Teachers will examine the concept of previous knowledge.
7. Teachers will examine children's contextual factors.
8. Teachers will analyze how respect for children is translated into teaching behavior.
9. Teachers will plan ways to apply the essentials of developmentally appropriate practice to their teaching practice.

These training outcomes address the following:

• Sections A, B, C, and J of the Accreditation Criteria and Procedures of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 1998).
• Standards 1, 2, 3, and 4 of NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation, Initial Licensure Level (NAEYC, 2003).
• Standard 1304 (a), (b), and (c) of Head Start Performance Standards (Federal Register, Nov. 5, 1996, Volume 61, Number 215).

Note: Downloadable PDFs are only available for download in pdf format. Directions for downloading follow immediately after purchase.