Describes Montessori's vision of developmentally appropriate physical environment, considers some effective design principles and characteristics of environments for young children, and identifies criteria for assessing the indoor and outdoor physical environments. (Author/KB)

This technical assistance paper answers the question, "How can quality education programs for young children be assured?" by addressing four issues: components of quality early childhood programs, measures to counteract pressures for inappropriate practices, types of early childhood programs, and program evaluation methods. The paper…

Noting the importance of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for teaching kindergarten students, this guide with accompanying videotape is designed to help kindergarten practitioners assess their classroom's level of readiness. The guide discusses the concept of kindergarten readiness as including the capacity of kindergarten classrooms and…

A developmentally appropriate early child classroom is described as one offering children organized activity choices, opportunities to explore content areas, and a time structure encouraging learning from one another and from adults in one-to-one and small group contexts. In addition, teachers would employ assessment practices related directly to…

Reflecting contemporary research and widely held beliefs about how children grow, develop, and learn, this publication describes standards for child development programs for preschool and school-age children. The text is divided into three main sections which discuss background material, program components, and the program quality review process.…