Due to an increasing number of children under the age of three attending early childhood education and care (ECEC), there is an increasing need for high-quality care settings. In addition to primary caregivers, ECEC teachers are important socializers of children's emotional development and may become children's attachment figures. Early preventive…

Many schools and out-of-school organizations use social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to boost students' skills. Yet research shows that these programs can be difficult to implement and don't always meet students' needs. In response, Rebecca Bailey, Laura Stickle, Gretchen Brion-Meisels, and Stephanie Jones propose a new approach to SEL…

California's Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff for entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1. This brief, the sixth in a series highlighting findings from the "Study of…

This article focuses on the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY TCM) intervention as an example of an evidence-based program that embeds fidelity and adaptation within its design. First, the core features of the IY TCM program along with the methods, processes, and principles that make the intervention effective are described. The…

Examines factors contributing to and preventing the implementation of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in early childhood education. Presents basic guidelines for DAP, illustrates the use of "both/and" thinking in early childhood practice, and describes the conversion of one school district to DAP. Concludes that administrative…

This digest debunks myths about developmentally appropriate programs (DAPs) and discusses essential characteristics of developmentally appropriate practices. Common myths or erroneous assumptions about DAPs assume that: (1) there is only one right way to implement a DAP; (2) DAPs are unstructured, and practitioners offer minimal guidance to the…

During the 1988-89 school year, the Portland, Oregon, Board of Education adopted an approach based on developmentally appropriate practices for improving early childhood education in public schools. Part of the plan for implementing the approach focused on a teachers' self-study process. The goals of the self-study project, in which three…