The first year of teaching has and continues to be fraught with challenges for early educators in public school contexts across the United States. A persistent problem that has been documented across the globe is the ability of novice teachers to engage in developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) with their students. We examine this issue…

Technological emersion is now prevalent in educational methodologies. Strategies that present an emerging ideology are relevant to closing the digital divide gap at all education levels but remains problematic. The problem addressed by this study is that many Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) lower socioeconomic (LSE) State-funded Preschool Program (SFPP)…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how instructors became aware of culturally relevant teaching (CRT) and developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) that support African American students' academic achievement. The Grounded Theory approach was used to uncover themes from the individual interviews of African American…

The pendulum is shifting from teacher-directed approaches in childhood education towards child-directed learning where developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) inform curriculum and instruction. This study explored the perspectives of teachers and administrators towards the supports and barriers of DAP and play in Transitional Kindergarten (TK)…

Kindergarten teachers are being asked to deliver differentiated small-group literacy instruction. The problem is managing the independent work being done by the rest of the class during the literacy period. Research on early childhood development and literacy indicates that the classroom environment plays an important role in supporting student…

The emphasis on engaging young learners in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions is driving calls for educational reform. One movement that is gaining momentum is exposing K-12 learners to engineering. With the advent of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (2012b), engineering is being more formally integrated…

Given academic priorities and budgetary constraints in the current elementary school milieu, the classroom teacher will likely remain a primary physical education provider. Understanding classroom teachers' perspectives related to costs, benefits, and barriers to teaching physical education is essential to understanding physical education…

To supplement the present weekly allotment of 30 minutes of physical education, a school district in southeastern North Carolina identified recess time as part of the state mandated (HSP-S-000) 150 minutes of physical activity (PA) per week and have purchased fitness equipment (recess packs) for the children to use. Twelve participants were…

Children grow and change more rapidly during the first eight years of life than any other time in their life span. Progression through the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional developmental stages varies for each individual child. Children with atypical development experience a wide spectrum of variability in their development. Over the past…

This study was conducted to evaluate perceptions held by early childhood educators about the assessment process in their schools and to identify current assessment practices in early childhood settings in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. In February 2009, 230 early childhood educators completed surveys on the topic of assessment at an annual early…

This article presents results of a study of 229 kindergarten teachers who completed a survey designed to gather information about the current state of Michigan kindergartens. In addition to detailed data that reveals teachers' literacy instructional practices, teachers provided written responses to the following open-ended questions: What are the…

In consideration of the academic priorities and budgetary constraints in many elementary schools across the country, the classroom teacher (CRT) will likely remain as a primary physical education provider. Reliance on physical education specialists (PES) as indirect service providers can play an important role in preparing CRTs for this task.…

In the primary grades, literacy teachers often face dual and competing challenges. On one hand, they are expected to provide developmentally appropriate practice in a contextually-sensitive manner. On the other hand, they are often charged with using packaged literacy curricula that contains components that are developmentally inappropriate for…

Discusses the importance of the Reggio Emilia approach in relation to cultural and professional attitudes. Claims that the preschools of Reggio Emilia have evolved to their current preeminence because those involved in Italy have set themselves the task of overcoming the impediments to dialog. Encourages the development of communities of inquiry…

This practicum aimed to improve the way staff communicated with young children through in-service training in a university early childhood laboratory school setting. Eight in-service training sessions, combined with discussion groups, classroom/recorded observations, and practical applications, were provided. The program focused on appropriate…