The Task Force on Early Childhood and Elementary Education, created by the Texas State Board of Education in January 1993, found that the current system of early childhood and elementary education is struggling to meet the challenges of childhood in today's Texas. This report summarizes the task force's call for schools to reconfigure themselves to keep pace with the changing needs of students and communities. Specifically, it presents the task force's vision for the reorganized early childhood or elementary school in Texas, which includes the following components: (1) developmentally appropriate curriculum that uses flexible grouping of students on a regular basis for active, participatory involvement and presentation of knowledge through interdisciplinary themes and units; (2) school calendars that permit flexible and extended-year schedules to accommodate each child's learning style and pace; (3) abundant opportunities for each child to attain high standards of achievement through acceleration and enrichment of all learning activities on a continuous basis; and (4) performance-based assessments that demonstrate continuous student progress toward academic standard, and allow continuous movement through the system by the students upon attainment of benchmark standards. The eight sections of this report present: (1) a policy statement on early childhood and elementary education; (2) questions and answers on developmentally appropriate education; (3) executive summary of the report; (4) mission and philosophy of developmentally appropriate education; (5) discussion and recommendations in the areas of organization, curriculum, instruction, and assessment; (6) recommendations on professional development and training; (7) discussion and recommendations about family and community collaboration; and (8) implementation steps. Contains 75 references. (TJQ)