The construct of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) has become a hallmark for educational practice in the United States. From DAP's initial publication in 1986 to the most recent revision published in 2022, DAP serves as a reference point for teacher education to support effective teachers' development and practice. However, DAP is a…

Play-based classroom learning environments have an immediate and long-term impact on children's optimal growth and development. With the continuing efforts of state and federal government agencies to fund early childhood programs with the intention of assuring that all children enter school ready to learn, enrollment into these programs continues…

How can teachers encourage productive struggle in mathematics and yet minimize the exposure to shame often associated with struggle? In this article, the authors offer constructive ways to position struggle in the classroom to minimize shame and promote doers of mathematics.

The term "active learning" is used in a variety of educational contexts. As described in this guide, however, it refers to an instructional approach developed by Lilli Nielsen--a Danish psychologist--for promoting the learning and development of children who have significant support needs. Nielsen's Active Learning involves a range of…

Family engagement in middle school is essential to ensure optimal learning. Middle-level educators (typically Grades 5 or 6 through Grade 8 in the U.S.) play a pivotal role in helping to guide parents' understanding of their evolving roles in supporting their adolescents' academic success. Students particularly benefit from (a) parental support…

Over the past 7 years I have dramatically changed my pedagogy in a quest to engage junior primary students in deep, authentic learning. This article concentrates on how I have come to support junior primary students to learn to write. It explains how I developed play-based learning through the books I read, the social media I became active in, and…

While we are seeking new ways to ensure students' academic success, we must ensure that we are not neglecting their need for physical activity. As we innovate to improve academic success, we can also seek ways to overcome the challenges of space, time, and behavior management to reap the benefits of movement, which include increased student…

Drawing upon foundations in constructivist philosophies, learner-centered and flipped-classroom pedagogies, the Learn, Expand, Engage (LEE) Model for teaching clinical skills across the mental health helping professions is presented. Utilizing and incorporating strengths of multiple helping professions, the goals of this model is to enable…

Observation is a useful tool, even in infant and toddler classrooms. Applied correctly, observation and assessment can help lay a foundation for a successful education throughout life. As appropriate practices are researched and policies change, teachers and caregivers of the youngest children (referred to as careteachers for this article) find…

The decline in middle school students' motivation and engagement during young adolescence remains a concern for educators, administrators, and educational researchers. This article draws on the philosophies of providing the appropriate person-environment fit and meeting students' basic psychological needs to enhance teaching and learning. These…

Research and experience tell us a great deal about how to successfully educate students with intellectual disability, but unfortunately this knowledge remains underutilized and inconsistently applied, writes researcher Michael F. Giangreco. Students with intellectual disability who have virtually identical profiles but live in different locales…

Laurie Ewert-Krocker emphasizes the teacher's role in nature's prepared environment. Without directing or controlling the child's work, learning spaces can be maximized for concentration by connecting the adolescent's intrinsic learning to the beauty and order of the natural world. The most artful balance is the global understanding of the…

Many early childhood educators encounter children who exhibit sexual behavior and are not sure how to respond. Although they have had training in childhood development, sexual development is rarely given the attention it deserves. At the same time, early childhood education personnel often get training in child abuse and in their responsibilities…

Tomorrow's inventors and scientists are today's curious young children--as long as those children are given ample chances to explore and are guided by adults equipped to support them. "STEM Starts Early" is the culmination of a deep inquiry by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America embarked on an exploratory…

Polli Soholt points to normalization in the first plane as leading to the successful realization of the human personality, which is the basis of social development. Children who have cultivated concentration and purposeful work at an early age develop the virtues to become world citizens. Normalization can be assisted by certain practices: 1)…