Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Words: 663
Pages: 3

Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Joselyn Suriel
Montclair State University

The purpose of developmentally appropriate practice is to promote young children's optimal learning and development (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009). The demographics of early education are constantly changing and therefore so should the practices being used by professionals. In order for further optimal learning, the statement highlights challenges that need to be overcome. The first challenge is reducing learning gaps and increasing the achievement of children. There is a disparity between the academic achievement of African American and Hispanic students compared to their non-Hispanic white peers. Also, between students of different socioeconomic statuses. It was surprising to read that early achievement gaps increase over time, instead of diminishing. This shows that more needs to be done by schools and professionals to close this achievement gap. The second challenge is to create improved and better-connected education for preschool and elementary children. There is a lack of high-quality programs for children under 5 years old that are affordable.
The third challenge is to recognize teacher knowledge and decision making
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In order to do this, a teacher must get to know each one of her students and the people in their lives. Some teachers might think that their only job is to focus on their students, but they should also be learning about their students' families and their community. Some teachers teach in a community, but do not get to know its people, which they should be doing. They should also be building relationships with their students' family members, to further learn about their students needs. By getting to know student's families, teachers will be able to bring each student's home culture and language into the classroom, creating more