1. Developmentally Appropriate Practice
What is it? What does it mean for my classroom and my school?
DAP is an approach to early childhood education that means teachers meet individual children where they are and help them reach challenging but achievable goals that will support their development and learning.
DAP is not a curriculum. It provides guidelines for what makes a curriculum developmentally appropriate. Teachers use this set of guidelines to help them make sound decisions every day.

2. Effective Early Childhood Educators Understand That:
Knowledge Must Inform Decision Making
Goals Must Be Challenging And Achievable
Teaching Must Be Intentional To Be Effective
Teachers make many decisions at all levels that affect young children. It is those many decisions that determine whether what actually happens in a classroom is or is not developmentally appropriate.
Effective educators keep in mind the desired outcomes for children’s learning and development as they make decisions.
They understand that:
Knowledge must inform all of our decisions
Goals must be challenging and achievable
Teaching must be intentional to be effective

3. Knowledge Must Inform Decision Making
What is known about child development and learning
Age related characteristics
Predict what experiences will promote learning and development
Effective Early childhood Educators take into consideration knowledge in three areas
What is know about child development and learning- research based knowledge of age related characteristics that permits general predictions about what experience are likely to best promote children's learning and development.

4. Knowledge Must Inform Decision Making
What is known about each child as an individual has implications for:
How best to adapt curriculum
How to be responsive to each child.
What is known about each child as an individual- what educators learn about a specific child has implications for how best to adapt and be responsive to that child

5. Knowledge Must Inform Decision Making
What is known about the social and cultural contexts in which children live:
Understand values, expectations, behavior and languages of children
Ensures their learning experiences are meaningful, relevant , and respectful for each child and their family.
What is known about the social and cultural contexts in which children live- educators must strive to understand the values, expectations, behavior, and languages that shape the children’s lives outside of school, to ensure that their learning experiences are meaningful, relevant and respectful for each child and family.
To recap this decision making process: an effective teacher begins by thinking about what children of 5-6 years are typically like. This knowledge provides a general idea of the activities, routines, interactions and curriculum that should be effective.
The teacher must also consider each child in that group- including looking at the child as an individual and within the context of the child’s specific family and community.
Only then can the teacher see those children as they are to make decisions that are developmentally appropriate for each of them.

6. Goals Must be Challenging and Achievable
Meet children where they are but don’t leave them there
Scaffold learning
Reflect on student learning and advancing learning in a developmentally appropriate way
Meeting children where they are is essential, but no good teacher simply leaves them there. Keeping in mind desired outcomes and what is know about those children as a group and individually, the teacher plans experiences to promote the children’s learning and development.
Scaffolding- Learning and development are most likely to occur when new experiences build on what a child already knows and is able to do and when those experiences also entail the child stretching a reasonable amount in acquiring new skills, abilities, or knowledge. The effective teacher scaffolds the learning for the children.
Reflecting--After the child reaches a new level of mastery in a skill or understanding, the effective teacher reflects on what goals should come next and the cycle continues advancing the learning in a developmentally appropriate way.

7. Teaching Must be Intentional To Be Effective
Intentional in everything you do
Setting up the classroom
Planning curriculum
Making use of various teaching strategies
Assessing children
Interacting with children
Working with their families
Direct your teaching toward the goals of the program (i.e. standards)
Good teachers use intention in everything they do from setting up the classroom to planning curriculum, selecting appropriate teaching strategies, assessing the children, interacting with them and working with their families.
Intentional teachers are purposeful and thoughtful about the actions they take and they direct their teaching towards the goals the program is trying to help children reach- the standards.

8. Key Aspects of the Teacher’s Role
Creating a Caring Community of Learners
Teaching to Enhance Development and Learning
Planning Curriculum to Achieve Important Goals
Assessing Children’s Development and Learning
Establishing Reciprocal Relationships with Families
Excellent teachers translate the developmentally appropriate practice framework into high quality experiences for the children through the decisions they make. Such teaching is described in the DAP position statement in the form of “Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practice” across five key aspects of the teacher’s role.
(on slide)
These five aspects of every teacher’s work are closely interrelated. Each is a vital part of what teachers do to achieve key goals for children. None can be left out or shortchanged without seriously weakening the whole.

9. Developmentally Appropriate Practice
DAP is not a curriculum
Provides guidelines for what makes a curriculum developmentally appropriate
Teachers use this set of guidelines to help them make sound decisions
DAP is an approach to early childhood education that means teachers meet individual children where they are and help them reach challenging but achievable goals that will support their development and learning.

10. Making decision in a DAP way:
Teachers make decisions with the following key points in mind:
Age Appropriateness
Individual Appropriateness
Social and Cultural Appropriateness
As teachers make the many decisions in their everyday work the keep in mind:
Age Appropriateness (what most children of a given age can do)
Individual Appropriateness (each child’s skills, interests, and characteristics)
Social and Cultural Appropriateness (children’s families, cultures, and communities)

11. Additional Activities
1. View the DVD included in Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs
Video Examples #2
What Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Look Like?
2. Read the handout “Key Messages of the Position Statement”
3. Use the 3,2,1 protocol to share with your co-workers
The DVD included in your Developmentally Appropriate Practices book includes many interesting readings and video examples.
Video Example #2 provides information on What does DAP look like. This DVD does take some time to download so you will want to have it ready prior to your presentation.
The 2 page Key Messages of the Position Statement handout also presents some interesting information regarding DAP.
We have included a 3,2,1 protocol for teacher reflection however other protocols might work for your audience also.
The full Position Statement from the National Association for the Education of Young Children is available at the beginning of the book or on line at,
We also suggest reading page 49 in the DAP book for additional discussion topics.
Handout- Questions about Developmentally Appropriate Practice- Teaching Young Children Vol. 2 No. 2 can also be used for discussion.