Road Map to Success
I have been writing an article for the magazine, "Early Childhood News." The article is about using preschool state standards, as well as Head Start Outcome indicators, to create a road map for the success of preschool children. While researching the article, I was again reminded why many early childhood teachers fear standards. Their fear comes from believing that they cannot create a developmentally appropriate classroom when there is a prescribed plan. I appreciated the new book by Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp (2006), published by NAEYC, called, "Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice." I was happy that the authors explained that if the teacher is not following an organized plan of skills, the classroom is not developmentally appropriate. We must have a plan to help children grow developmentally. Following standards does not mean that every child is at the same point at the same time. As long as the approach to learning is developmentally appropriate, having a road map of skills will help a teacher create activities that support development. As mentioned in an earlier post, skills in developmental order create a great support for the classroom.
posted by John Funk @ Permalink1:01 PM
6 Comments:
It is surprising that having an organized plan of skills is not necessarily developmentally appropriate. I think that part of the reason that teachers fear standards is because they fear not meeting these standards. I further think that having a classroom that is organized in a developmentally appropriate manner will help teachers overcome these fears and better understand the standards. I think that it is important to recognize how important it is to help students grow developmentally.
In my expereince over the years working with teachers and helping them become aware of what developmentally appropriate practice is all about I run into many who think that they have to give up their ways of teaching and planning to embrace DAP. Only after learning that in reality they are already 90% DAP in many of their approaches and that what they do is valued and very appropriate do they begin to see that value of the practice. Indepth planning and a sound management plan are crucial to a successful DAP classroom.
In my expereince over the years working with teachers and helping them become aware of what developmentally appropriate practice is all about I run into many who think that they have to give up their ways of teaching and planning to embrace DAP. Only after learning that in reality they are already 90% DAP in many of their approaches and that what they do is valued and very appropriate do they begin to see that value of the practice. Indepth planning and a sound management plan are crucial to a successful DAP classroom.
John,
I liked your thoughts on setting organized standards for a classroom. I used to be a substitute teacher for Head Start, and I had the opportunity to work with many of the SLCAP head start teachers. I noticed a drastic difference in the overall reading ability of the kids in classrooms where teachers had set reasonable goals and worked hard to meet those standards. True, sometimes the goals were not met, but the students still did better than those in classrooms where reading was not a priority whatsoever and the teachers had no organized plan.
Christine
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