Developmentally Appropriate Education

Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE EDUCATION 1
Developmentally Appropriate Education
Michaela A Puckett
Ohio Christian University
24 May 2019
Author’s Note:
This essay is about Developmentally Appropriate Education and was prepared for Mrs. Case and
Mrs. Diltz.
Introduction
Pablo Casals once stated, “A child must know that he is a miracle, that since the
beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another
child like him.” We as educators must express this to our children daily, no matter how difficult
they are in our classroom because we do not know how their life started. In your classroom, you
will have many things affect your children, from the simple struggle of staying focused, to low
their socioeconomic status, social media, and family drug and alcohol addictions.
At an early age, before the child even gets to the classroom, many factors in their life can
affect them. The National Center for Children in Poverty (n.d.) states, “Poverty can impede
children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty
also can contribute to poor health and mental health” (para 2). All of these things can disrupt the
development of a child growing into full potential. NCCP (n.d.) quotes, “…poverty is the single
greatest threat to children’s well-being” (para 3). These are factors that are harming children
before they even enter the early childhood classroom. When children are infants, this is when
they start picking up habits that they will be using for the rest of their lives. So, this brings me to
the question, does a student’s socioeconomic status affect brain development or cognitive
learning? Poverty and the Developing Brain (2017) answers,
“The results were striking. While poverty did not impact brain development in its
entirety, it did affect some brain regions more than others. Differences in brain
structure were particularly present in areas involved in memory, language
processing, and decision-making and self-control. The most consistent finding
was that the stressful or traumatic life events experienced by children growing up
in poverty were associated with a smaller hippocampus” (para 6-7).

Many children look at the life that they have and think they have two choices: be their parents or
be the opposite of their parents. Some kids fall into the same path as their parents, but some kids
thrive and break the chains and beat poverty. Poverty and the Developing Brain (2017) states,
“Brains are plastic—especially the brains of children. This means that the effects of poverty on
the brain may be reversible and the brain may well be able to compensate for damage in the long
term” (para 14). This simply suggests that a child born in poverty or a low SES is not damaged
goods; he or she just needs a little dusting to find full potential.
Having a child in your class who comes from a household that is a low SES, little signs
that wil be evident you must recognize. This may not even be their emotions; it may be their
parents emotions showing through them. Maybe mom and dad cannot afford new clothes for
them, so they have to wear the same ones; dad lost his job for the second time this month, or
mom relapsed again. From the book Teaching with the Poverty in Mind (n.d.) it reads,
“Many low-SES children face emotional and social instability. Typically, the weak or
anxious attachments formed by infants in poverty become the basis for full-blown
insecurity during the early childhood years. Very young children require healthy learning
and exploration for optimal brain development” (para 7).
When a child reaches your classroom, you must step up and be that one source of stability in his
or her life. You must do what it takes to help this child in the seven hours you see them a day to
help his or her trust and gain a routine. Poverty & Child Development (n.d.) states,
“The consequences of poverty—emotional issues, delayed development and
lower academic achievement, among others—put a child behind peers who do not
struggle with poverty. Poverty affects an increasing number of children. From

2007 to 2008, the number of kids living in poverty grew by over half a million in
the United States, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops” (para 1).
Growing up in a household that comes from below the bar of SES plays a physical toll on
your body. If you aren’t eating, you may fall behind on your growth scale very quickly. But what
about before you were even born? Most children get neglected before even leaving their
mother’s body! This is not meaning the mother is holding food away, but the mother could be
using drugs and not using the correct medicines to enhance the babys growth. Anita Woolfolk
(2013) states,
“Families in poverty have less access to good prenatal and infant health care and
nutrition. Over half of all adolescent mothers receive no prenatal care at all. Poor
mothers and adolescent mothers are more likely to have premature babies, and
prematurity is associated with many cognitive and learning problems. Children in
poverty are more likely to be exposed to both legal drugs (nicotine, alcohol) and
illegal drugs (cocaine, heroin) before birth. Children whose mothers take drugs
during pregnancy can have problems with organization, attention, and language
skills” (p. 213).
If the children are born with a physical impairment, learning disability, or very malnourished
they already behind and are spending the rest of their time in school trying to catch up, but this is
not always the case. Some kids thrive and beat the odds.
Being a kid who comes from a low socioeconomic status, it may be difficult to fit in with
certain social groups, or the child may be more prone to fall into the wrong groups. He may want
to adapt to a resistance culture. Woolfolk (2013) defines, “it as group values and beliefs about
refusing to adopt the behaviors and attitudes of the majority culture.” These children will do
whatever they would like to do because either there is no structure at home, or because the
parents don’t care what they do, as long as they are not bothering them. Another scenario may
involve the parents working two jobs just to keep the lights on. It is sad to say but you are seeing
it in younger grades. Woolfolk (2013) stated (as cited in Stinson, 2006, p. 214) “...educators
should focus on making school an inclusive place that does not invite resistance.” Teachers
cannot give up on these kids; these are the kids who need them the most. It takes one teacher to
make a positive impact on a student to change his or her outlook on school.
These categories of development are very important to keep in mind when working in the
early childhood classroom. In some cases, all a child might learn from an educator is that it is
okay to trust an adult and that he or she can rise above any situation/obstacle that is put in front
of his or her try. Children are the future leaders of America; educators must get the full potential
out of each student who comes through their classroom, no matter the social status.
As years go by, the younger kids gain access to social media, which is further harming
their development emotionally. Moessner (n.d.) states, “nearly 43% of kids have been bullied
online. 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once” (para 2). On an average, we will have at the
least twenty kids in our classrooms, which means at least five of those kids will be bullied
online, and we cannot let this happen. Having a child not feel comfortable in your classroom
because of these events can destroy your entire relationship you have built. Cox Communications
(n.d.) did a poll and it shows that “only 68 percent of teens agree that cyberbullying is a serious
problem” (para 4). This is mind blowing that kids are not seeing the seriousness of this issue.
The kids who are not seeing this as a problem are probably the ones bullying other, or the kids
who have been abused are too scared to speak out.

When a child is being bullied on the internet or specifically through social media, it might
be hard to tell who the real bully is. When someone is bullying someone on the internet it usually
done under a fake name or a fake account so the victim can never find out who actually is
bullying he or she and the bully cannot get in trouble. This takes a huge toll on children’s social
lives because when kids get hurt, they naturally build a wall up around their heart, and it is very
hard to breakdown. Cox Communications (n.d.) did a poll on if students thought it was easier to
be bullied face to face or online: “81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get
away with than bullying in person” (para 5). This is just proving that kids are using social media
to manipulate or bully kids. When a child is not comfortable being in your classroom or even
being around his peers, how are you supposed to try to make a social connect with him to try and
teach him?
Having a child who is being bullied in your class could go one or two ways: you can read
it on his or her face or the child has grown so use to it that you will never know. Welles, M.,
Urban, L., & Curra, S. (2019) gave us some tips or signs to know when a child may be bullied:
“Unexplainable injuries and/or damaged belongings, sudden avoidance of social
situations or loss of friends, altered eating habits, such as refusing to eat or binge
eating, nightmares or difficulty sleeping, declining grades or not wanting to do
school work or go to school (even faking illness to avoid going), and self-
destructive behaviors such as self-harm or talk about suicide” (para 7).
These tips need be read by teachers and parents worldwide to help every single child they may
encounter because they will be able to pick up on the signs more quickly. When a child is
bullied, he or she might feel unwanted and may act out to get attention or even fall into the
wrong group of friends. As a teacher, we report and monitor everything we see to make sure we
keep the safety of every student in our classroom. By creating a warm and caring environment
for all your students enter, there should be no room for bullying inside.
At a young age kids look up to their parents and want to be just like them. They think
their dad is a superhero and their mom is a princess. In today’s world, most parents are raising
their children around drugs and alcohol and statistics have shown that their kids do have a greater
chance of growing up to be just like them. Lipari, R. N., Ph.D, & Van Horn, S. L., M.A. (2017)
states,
“Previous research has shown that children of parents with an SUD (Substance
Use Disorder) were found to be of lower socioeconomic status and had more
difficulties in academic, social, and family functioning when compared with
children of parents who do not have an SUD. These children are also more likely
to have higher rates of mental and behavioral disorders. Children who are exposed
to a parent with SUDs are more likely to develop SUD symptoms themselves”
(para 7).
This affects the classroom by giving the students the “don’t care” attitude because it works for
their dad, so they should be perfectly fine. Times have changed, and we need to make these
students realize that is okay to live a different life than their parents. If their parents are into
serious drugs, they may get taken from their homes in the middle of the night. How do we teach
that kid the next day at school? How do we keep that mind focused? They cannot focus on
reading their favorite book because they do not even know if they will get to sleep in their own
bed at night. We as teachers must find that perfect balance of safety and learning in our
classrooms.
The physical toll that a child must suffer from a parent being on drugs is unimaginable;
kids have enough stress on their plate, and they do not need to take care of their parents when it
should be the other way around. Lipari, R. N., Ph.D, & Van Horn, S. L., M.A. (2017) states,
“Previous research has shown that children of parents who have an illicit drug use disorder are at
higher risk for mental and behavioral disorders and functional impairments than children of
parents with alcohol use disorder” (para 13). This is unfair to the child because they are unable to
take care of themselves and their parents are only harming instead of helping. The child would
be tired all the time because of parents fighting or always being removed from the home. Also, if
all of this is going on, is their homework getting done? Is their reading log getting signed? For
these children that have these unfortunate circumstances, as an educator you can provide time in
class for homework to be done and extra time for reading to ensure they are getting their work
done just like all of the other students. This is something you would have to catch when you are
observing your students and taking notes at the beginning of the year so the student does not fall
too far behind.
Definition
It is important for all educators of all age ranges to know what the definition of
developmentally appropriate education is before trying to execute it into their classroom.
Developmentally appropriate education is taking what the students need to know and creating
lessons to help the students meet goals that we have created to make sure they are learning at a
comfortable pace. Sometimes educators get blinders and focus on the main goal and do not think
about all the little bumps along the way. Something that goes along with developmentally
appropriate education is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), which is an approach to
teaching grounded in the research on how young children develop and learn and in what is
known about effective early education. Coople & Bredekamp (2009) states, “…the knowledge
practitioners consider when they are making decisions, and in their always aiming for goals that
are both challenging and achievable for children” (p.9). All teachers can express the way they
handle developmentally appropriate education and practice, as the main goal is ensuring that
their students’ needs are being met at the end of the year. Also, another way of thinking about it
is like scaffolding. Scaffolding is the process of linking what a child knows or can do with new
information or skills the child is ready to acquire. This is a great method to use because it helps
children learn new information smoothly.
The National Association for The Education of Young Children (2018) gives three core
considerations of developmentally appropriate practices for educators to keep in mind when they
are teaching, and they are, “know about child development and learning, know what is
individually appropriate, and know what is culturally important” (para 5). When speaking about
children’s development and their learning, it is referring to the different ages and the crucial
starting points which would help predict which experiences would support children’s learning in
the future. NAEYC (2018) states, “Children develop best when they have secure relationships.”
Knowing what is individually appropriate for a child is what helps us refine out decisions about
how we can personally help each student effectively. By making observations of a child you are
noting his or hers developmental progress, abilities, and getting to know each his or hers interests
to be able to help the child later down the road. The National Association for The Education of
Young Children (2018) states,
“knowing what is culturally important, we must make an effort to get to know the
children’s families and learn about the values, expectations, and factors that shape
their lives at home and in their communities. This background information helps
us provide meaningful, relevant, and respectful learning experiences for each
child and family” (para 5).
Seeing the look on a child’s face when you know just the smallest detail about them truly means
everything to them. Even if it is something small, just showing that you care is all that matters to
them.
Each student in your class is going to be different in their own wonderful way, and the
way he or she learns is going to be just as unique. Educators, we need to make sure we are
spending time getting to know these children one-on-one to create the best possible ways to
teach them. Just in my short time of being in the classroom, I have not been able to explain a
lesson the same exact way and have two students understand me, which proves why we need to
take time to get to know these kids before we start forcing work at them. Sometimes I would
explain something to one student, and another student would immediately look at his friend and
re-explain exactly what I just said but tweaked a few words so that the other student now
understood. The key to developmentally appropriate education is to not assume you are a one-
way kind of teacher, but you are a one student at a time kind of teacher.
Review of Literature
Since we have already defined what developmentally appropriate education is, we can
take a look into what scholars believe supports and opposes this theory. There are many different
views on this topic and how it can be interpreted. My personal belief is that it is critical to a
classroom not only academically, but for students’ social and emotional journeys as well. There
are several psychologists who support developmentally appropriate education and added tips of
their own, including Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Erik Erickson, P.F. Skinner, and John B.
Watson . On the other hand, Alper T. Kumtepe, who is a Doctor of Philology opposes
developmentally appropriative education and practice.
Lev Vygotsky was a seminal Russian psychologist who is best known for
his sociocultural theory. Vygotsky is a strong supporter of developmentally appropriate
education because of his concept of zone of proximal development, also known as the “magic
middle.” This includes what a child can do independently and what the child can do when aided
by an adult or more knowledgeable peer. Slavin (2018) states,
“Knowing both levels of Vygotsky’s zone is useful for teachers, for these levels
indicate where the child is at a given moment as well as where the child is going.
The zone of proximal development has several implications for teaching in the
classroom” (pg. 41).
Vygotsky’s theory does not mean that every child can learn anything just because he or she is
taught a certain way in the zone of proximal development. It is best when it is used in practice of
previously known skills and introduction of concepts that are too difficult and complex have
little positive impact. Stalin (2018) gives great examples of when teachers can use information
about both levels of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development in organizing classroom activities
in the following ways:
“First, instruction can be planned to provide practice in the zone of proximal
development for individual children or for groups of children. For example, hints
and prompts that helped children during the assessment could form the basis of
instructional activities. Second, cooperative learning activities can be planned
with groups of children at different levels who can help each other learn. Third,
scaffolding (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976) is a tactic for helping the child in his
or her zone of proximal development in which the adult provides hints and
prompts at different levels. In scaffolding, the adult does not simplify the task, but
the role of the learner is simplified “through the graduated intervention of the
teacher”” (pg. 47).
These tips can help a lot of teachers in their classrooms reach students at all learning levels and
provide them with the assistance they need. Connected with the zone of proximal development is
guided practice. Guided practice is the process by which students learn from other students who
guide their experiences and explorations. This learning is direct and interactive. Berger (2015)
states, “active apprenticeship and sensitive guidance are central to sociocultural theory because
each person depends on others to learn. This process is informal, pervasive, and social” (pg. 52).
Vygotsky stresses the point that in shaping the development of every person, some assumptions
need to shift to allow healthier development.
The next scholar is Jean Piaget a Swiss scientist who is considered by many to be the
greatest developmental psychologist of all time. Piaget is most commonly known for his periods
of Cognitive Development, but in relation to developmentally appropriate education, what is
more pertinent is his take on cognitive equilibrium. This is where a state of metal balance in
which people are not confused because they can use information they already know to help them
understand current situations. This is critical to kids because they need to be able to bring what
they know into new situations to help them understand what is going on. As a result, it is critical
that we get to know our students so we know what they already know and what they like so they
can make connections and make work easier. When using this method, unfortunately you have to
deal with the cognitive disequilibrium, where it is basically an imbalance that creates confusion.
This is where the students must adapt, and Piaget uses two terms that help them understand how
to adapt: assimilation (new experiences are reinterpreted to fit, or assimilate, into old ideas) and
accommodation (old ideas are restricted to include, or accommodate, new experiences). Berger
(2015) states, “accommodation is more difficult than assimilation, but it advances thought
children-- and everyone else—actively develop new concepts. In Piagetian terms, they construct
ideas based in their experiences” (pg. 48). These are terms that help teachers in classrooms
decide daily how to help each one of their students in the appropriate way because it helped them
understand how students truly think.
The next man, Erik Erickson took Sigmund Freud’s work and did what he believed
would made it better. He gave a list of psychosocial stages for the development of a child and
gave two ways a child could handle a situation. He stayed pretty close to Freud’s work in the
first five stages, then on the last three decided to break out. Berger (2015) quotes, “Erickson, like
Freud, believed that problems of adult life echo unresolved childhood conflicts. He thought the
first stage, trust versus mistrust, was particularly crucial” (pg. 42). For example, this might
involve an adult who has had difficulty establishing a secure relationship with anyone, such as a
friend or life, partner because of early crisis in infancy, trust versus mistrust. We as teachers need
to be a rock for these students and have them feel comfortable enough to trust us.
In the second stage, it is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. Berger (2015) describes it as,
“children either become self-sufficient in many activities, including toileting, feeding, walking,
exploring, and talking, or doubt their own abilities” (pg. 41). If these issues are not fixed they
could seriously affect a classroom that is developmentally appropriate. If a student doubts his or
her own abilities, it will throw off the entire learning experience and the child will need more
attention. A teacher will need to keep a close eye on these students and make sure they are on
track and keeping up.

The third stage is Initiative vs. Guilt. Berger (2015) states, “Children either try to
undertake many adultlike activities or internalize the limits and prohibitions set by parents. They
feel either adventurous or guilty” (pg. 41). For example, in late adulthood, one older person may
be outspoken while another avoids saying anything because each resolved the initiative-verse-
guilt stage in opposite ways. The fourth stage, is Industry vs. Inferiority. Berger (2015) defines
stage four as, “children busily practice and then master new skills or feel inferior, unable to do
anything well” (pg. 41). As stated in the second stage, this is important for the students to be
comfortable in our classrooms and to be able to understand what is going on at all times at their
learning pace. The fifth stage is, Identity vs. Role Confusion. Berger (2015) defines stage five as,
“adolescents ask themselves ‘Who am I?’ They establish sexual, political, religious, and
vocational identities or are confused about their roles” (pg. 41). This is where students become
who they are, and we as teachers really have to pay attention and listen to them. The way they
speak and how they speak will help us teach them and help us understand them better as
individuals.
This is where Freud and Erickson differ. Freud believed that kids would grow on
throughout adulthood and the goal of a healthy life is “to love and to work.” Erickson goes on for
three more stages: Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair.
Berger (2015) outlines Intimacy vs. Isolation as, “young adults seek companionship and love or
become isolated from others, fearing rejection” (pg.41). Berger (2015) describes Generativity vs.
Stagnation as, “adults contribute to future generation through work, creative activities, and
parenthood or they stagnate” (pg.41). Berger (2015) explains Integrity vs. Despair as “older
adults try to make sense of their lives, either seeing life as a meaningful whole or despairing at
goals never reached” (pg. 41). As early childhood educators, what we do has a lasting effect on
children’s lives, whether that is positive or negative. We can help children feel comfortable
around people in a learning environment and have them open up and find themselves or we could
be the friend/adult figure in their life that they trust and need for stability. Yes, education is very
important, but we are shaping these kids for the future. This generation will be the next leaders,
voters, doctors, teachers, etc. We need to be what they need us to be for them, and that will be
different for each child; that concept is what Erickson is trying to get us to understand with his
eight stages.
The next scholar is B.F. Skinner, the most influential North American proponent of
behaviorism, and he agreed that psychology should focus on the science of behavior. Just like
Erickson, Skinner took someone else’s work, Ivan Pavlov specifically, and did his own tests and
came up with what he thought was better. Berger (2015) quotes,
“He went beyond observation of learning by association, in which one stimulus is
paired with another stimulus (in Pavlov’s experiment, the tone with the food). He
focuses instead on what happens after a behavior elicits a particular response. If
the consequence that follows is enjoyable, the animal tends to repeat the behavior;
if the consequence is unpleasant, the animal might not” (pg. 44).
The same thing goes for children; if they do something positive, let them know about it and they
will knock down doors to do it again, but if they do something wrong, you have to let them know
that, too. This is where Skinner brings the term modeling into play, and it can be used as a
positive or a negative. Berger (2015) defines it as, “the central process of social learning, by
which a person observes the actions of others and then copies them” (pg. 45). This is the
definition of a first grade classroom. When a child is rewarded for doing something, every single
student will get out of their seat and do the same exact thing to see if they will get the same
reward. That is the negative side of it, but when a child is misbehaving and gets in trouble, each
student knows what not to do.
Modeling is very important in a classroom that is developmentally appropriate because
students watch each other and try to be like the best/highest student in the classroom. It is not a
bad thing, because each student has different goals, but they will see other students doing
different activities that look more fun than what they are doing and it will help them strive to get
better in their area. Modeling is also good in classroom management because as stated earlier,
kids are always watching each other. If a kid is doing something good, praise that student and the
kids are not doing what they are supposed to will see exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
It is very simple, but it is all about how kids respond to it: again, it goes back to knowing your
classroom and each kid in it. Berger then (2015) quotes scholar Albert Bandura, “... modeling is
most powerful when admired, powerful, nurturing, or similar to the observer” (pg. 45). As a
teacher, you may be the greatest model that a child will come into contact with, so make it count,
by always staying positive and giving them what they need.
The last scholar giving positive insight on developmentally appropriate education is John
B. Watson, an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behavorism.
Watson argued that if psychology was to be a true science, psychologists should examine only
what they could see and measure: behavior, not irrational thoughts and hidden urges. Berger
(2015) quotes Watson by stating,
“If psychologists focus on behavior, they will realize that everything can be
learned. Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train
him to become any type of specialist I might select…. regardless of his talents,
penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors” (pg. 43).
This is true for any child in our classroom; once we get to know the child, the sky can only be the
limit for him or her. With the right educators and appropriate learning strategies, children should
always feel like they can learn anything in your classroom.
Watson also brings up the study that he and many other psychologists in the United
States worked and agreed on; it is behaviorism. Behaviorism is defined as the grand theory of
human development that studies observable behavior. This is also known as the learning theory
because it describes the laws and processes by which behavior is learned. This is crucial for
teachers to understand because we need to know exactly why one student is struggling with one
topic and the other twelve are not. Is it because he or she simply do not understand, or is it
because mom and dad got in an argument in front of them last night and that is what they are
thinking about? We must know our students and know how they respond to certain situations and
how they bounce back, which links us to the term conditioning. Berger (2015) defines
conditioning as “the process which responses become linked to a particular stimuli and learning
takes place” (pg.43). This once again is getting to know your students. I believe Watson is
correlating conditioning with using the child’s interests to help them understand what you are
trying to teach them.
Last, Alper T. Kumtepe is a Doctor of Philology who opposes developmentally
appropriative education and practice. He wrote his dissertation on “The Effects of
Developmentally Appropriate Practices on Children's Reading Development from Kindergarten
Through Third Grade”. In the dissertation, it talks about how the positives work in a classroom,
but he then hits hard with some facts about how developmentally appropriate education and
practices can be a negative. Kumtepe (2005) supports his work with a few other scholars and
goes on to say,
“Although the concept of DAP has been very popular and influential in the field
of early childhood education, the overall number of empirical studies evaluating
the effects of DAP have surprisingly been quite limited (Jones & Gullo, 1999;
Van Horn, Karlin, Ramey, Aldridge, & Snyder, 2005; Van Horn & Ramey, 2003).
It is far from being adequate to reach a conclusion about all aspects of the DAP.
Furthermore, the results of the existing studies are weak and mixed (Van Horn &
Ramey, 2003) to reach a consensus that differential effects of DAP are positive on
children’s academic achievement and growth. Of the 11 published studies that
examined the effects of DAP on cognitive domain, five studies revealed positive
effects (Burts et al., 1993; Dunn, Beach, & Kontos, 1994; Marcon, 1992, 1993,
1999), five studies reported mixed or no effects (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 1990;
Huffman & Speer, 2000; Jones & Gullo, 1999; Stipek et al., 1998; Van Horn &
Ramey, 2003), and one study reported negative effects (Stipek et al., 1995)” (pg.
29).
Kumtepe believes that teachers are doing this method because it is the next big thing, not
because it is what is working for the kids. He thinks teachers aren’t weighing different options
that they have but instead just jumping at what they think is easiest. He went on to talk about if
teachers would like to just have self-reports to keep up with the regulations with DAP or have
outside observers come in. Kumtepe’s (2005) response back to it was, “teachers may alter their
performance in the classroom when there is an outsider observes their instructional practices, and
they may inflate the level of DAP in their classrooms because of DAP’s popularity” (pg. 18).
Kumtepe believes that this method could be vamped up and made better for the children in the
future, but it is a work in process just like everything in this world. In his dissertation, he made
some very good points, but he also made some points that were far out.
Personal Observation
In my two years of field placements, I was placed in a few classrooms that have shaped
me into the teacher that I am today and the teacher that I strive to be in the future. I was blessed
with the opportunity to be placed in a third-grade classroom, a second grade classroom and
majority of my time was spent in a first grade classroom. With those grades being so close, I
assumed that it would relatively be the same, but it was not even close. I think the difference
mostly resulted from the way the teachers handled their classroom and placed emphasis on
certain subjects. With the three teachers, I was placed with, I did not think any of them taught the
same and I liked that. I learned something different from each of them that I can take with me
and use in my own classroom, including a style of teaching to help my future children learn.
When I was at Pickaway Elementary School, I was placed in the third grade with a math
teacher, my heart fell completely to my stomach because I was the kid who always struggled
with math. I knew it was going to be a bad placement, and I was already counting my hours
down and I had not even started. These thoughts ran through my head, “These kids are going to
be smarter than me!” “I am going to hurt these kids more than help them.” “They test this year; I
cannot be here with them.” These thoughts had entered my brain, and I had not even met my
cooperating teacher or my students yet. When I finally calmed down to reach out to my teacher
she had already emailed me stating that she was more than happy to meet me, and I was going to
be a great factor to her classroom. Just those little words helped me get to her room. Once I
walked through her door and met all the kids, everything made sense.
One lesson I vividly remember, which still haunts my dreams because of how badly I felt
it went, I attempted to teach a new lesson on estimating numbers then subtracting them. In my
head, I thought this is going to be very easy because estimating numbers, all you have to do is
round, which would be very simple, and then subtracting is something they have done since first
grade. I went at this lesson way too confidently. I was teaching it to the whole entire class, and I
can still see each of their eighteen little faces looking at me and then immediately looking at my
coopering teacher. I had explained the entire lesson in five minutes, with only one example. I
panicked. It was my first lesson that I had ever taught by myself, and I confused every single
child. I looked at my cooperating teacher and asked her what she wanted me to do and if she
wanted to give it a shot. I will never forget what she said. “Just breath, ask questions and take
your time.” I took a deep breath and retaught the same exact thing I just taught the kids, but
instead of going through the entire thing at once, I stopped and asked them questions throughout
instead of waiting until the end. I believe I learned two things from that lesson: you can never be
too prepared on a lesson plan and let your kids talk about the work because you will assume they
know it if you don’t let them talk. That day my lesson was not developmentally appropriate for
the kids because I assumed they knew something instead of asking them.
Another lesson from third grade that sticks out to me is when we used weights and scales
to work on balancing things in our classroom. The kids enjoyed this lesson because it was very
hands on. We took the scales and had the balancing weights and put them on one side, and then
they took their journal and wrote what in the classroom they thought could go on the opposite
side of the scale to make the scale even. I cannot express how great this lesson went. Not only
were the kids engaged in finding things for math to balance out, but they were also using their
science skills to predict, and their writing skills to keep tract of their predictions and analyze
their data. Being in the third grade is boring sometimes because it is controlled by the AIR Test,
but when we had the chance to step outside of the box with it, we tried. This day was a success
and was developmentally appropriate for the entire classroom.
When I was in my placement in second grade, I was at West Elementary in a basic level
Reading and Language Arts classroom: I did this at the same time I was with my third-grade
math class. I was only in this placement for roughly twelve hours because we got out of class on
four Thursdays to do a couple of reading lessons with kids. Since I was with a math teacher, I
had to find a reading class to do my lessons with.
This may be one of my favorite lessons that I have ever taught. My professor instructed
us to have a child to create a book and draw pictures along with the writing. My cooperating
teacher asked if we could do it as a group, I got it approved, and we went on with it. The
classroom had been reading the series of Tacky the Penguin books and comparing the stories. I
decided that I would like to teach off their unit, and we were going to create our own Tacky the
Penguin book. The kids were beyond excited. We read one Tacky book so the kids could get
their heads around some ideas. My teacher and I decided that it would be better if they would tell
us what to write, us write it, then have each student take a sentence and have them rewrite it, and
draw their picture on the actual book. They came up with an incredible story about Tacky’s
adventure to their school. We pressed it just like a real book and I made a copy for each one of
them. This really made the kids use their creativity skills, this is a skill many kids are lacking
today. This lesson I felt was developmentally appropriate for the kids because we guided them
through the process, by giving them their freedom, but also being there for guidance when
needed.
Another lesson I did with only two children. I pulled them to the back corner with me
away from the other students to stay focused. The goal of the lesson was to get them to write
about what they were feeling. I started the lesson with a reading to gain attention. Once I was
finished reading, I told them to write down four sentences of exactly what they were thinking
about. They looked at me like I was crazy. I could not understand why they were struggling, until
I remembered this was a basic level group. I made the decision to ignore writing, and instead I
told them to fill up their entire paper front and back with drawings and colorings to show their
mood about today. Their eyes lit up because they knew they could draw. Once they were done
drawing, I had them explain to me exactly what each thing that they drew was, and we labeled it
together. I learned a lot of neat things about these two students just through their drawings. I
changed my plans in the middle of my lesson to meet these two kids’ needs because I knew
writing just was not going to work for them. Maybe in the future we would get there, but that day
drawing was developmentally appropriate for them.
Furthermore, when I was in my first-grade placement, I was at Circleville Elementary
with the same teacher for my Science and Social Studies Methods class, Foundations of Literacy,
and Reading and Language Arts Methods. I was fortunate enough to spend an entire year with a
group of students and an amazing cooperating teacher. In our classroom, we had students on all
different reading levels and math table sheets. My cooperating teacher and I had to work hard on
making the level easy enough for our lowest student to understand and challenging enough that
our highest student would not be bored. It was tough, but I learned a lot of great ways to
differentiate and create appropriate education for all students in my class.
One lesson that I enjoyed teaching in first grade was about bats. At Circleville around
Halloween they participate in a bat week, which is basically just a bat unit, and the kids have a
blast. I was able to do a science experiment with the kids where I taught them about
echolocation. This word had popped up a few times in a few of the books that the kids had read,
but they didn’t know what it truly meant or even what it sounded like. We simply took a piece of
yarn and a metal hanger and gave the kids a sense of what bats hear when they are trying to find
food. We placed the yarn through the hanger and put the yarn in our ears and gently swung the
hanger off our desks and vibration traveled up the yarn and to their ears creating the sound bats
hear. I felt that this lesson was developmentally appropriate because my high students and low
students both learned at the same level and neither was lost or bored. The lesson was hands on
and let the kids experience something for themselves, and for first grade that is crucial.
Another lesson I taught with the whole class was about the past, present, and future. I was
very nervous about teaching this lesson because of the random things that I knew the kids would
bring up about the past or when they predict the future they would just say they will be old. I
created a PowerPoint to show the kids about past things that are different now, such as
telephones, clothes, and games that children play. I believe that my PowerPoint was too
advanced for what a first grader would pick up on. I gave them a worksheet after to see if they
were paying attention, and they were supposed to color the present blue and the past yellow. I
went around and looked at everyone’s paper, and they had a dress colored blue for the present
which should have been yellow for the past. I decided since the whole class missed it, I needed
feedback to why they decided this. They informed me that the see Amish every single day in the
present with that same exact dress on. They were not wrong, as Amish live in the present and
still wear those clothes. I had to laugh and explain to them that we do not dress like this every
day, and that is what the worksheet wants us to see. I added a slide to my PowerPoint about the
Amish to settle future confusion for my kids. I feel like this lesson has potential to be
developmentally appropriate for future kids, but the day I taught it, it was not developmentally
appropriate.
When I was focusing on my Literacy and Reading hours I mostly worked one on one or
with a small group. These lessons were built specifically for their needs, strengths and
weaknesses. I worked with one little girl on a level 8 reading book trying to help her with her
fluency and word recognition. She looked at me and said, “Miss Puckett, I think this book is too
hard. I want to read my book about animals.” I let her go get her book about animals, but I told
her we were going to come back to our level 8 book after we finished her book. I know she only
wanted the book about animals because she could basically read the book by reading the
pictures, but I needed her to gain that confidence back up to read the level 8 book. I read an
article that is good for students to have a “safety blanket” in reading to help them gain their
confidence. I felt for this student that it was developmentally appropriate for her to take a step
back because I knew it would lead to two steps forward with that confidence booster.
When I worked with another student one on one, she made my lesson look very poor, as I
did not challenge her enough. She was one of the students I had been observing for my case
study, and I wanted to get to know her a little more. I picked out a book, and I was planning to
do a running record. We were going to do a worksheet together, and then she was going to write
a of couple sentences for me. She did not miss a word or need to self-correct herself, and she
answered the sheet all by herself in two minutes. She then wrote two paragraphs about the book
we just read. This lesson was obviously too easy for her, and as a result, the next time I met with
her, we bumped up a few reading levels and dug a little deeper for the questions. She is in the
first grade reading at a third grade level. I gave her a reading level 22 when she should’ve been at
a 28. What I learned from this experience is that some students can be pushed a little harder than
other students. This student’s goals are higher and harder to achieve, but it works for her. This
lesson was not developmentally appropriate for her.
In my field experience, we worked with the “Daily 5” rotation, which lets the kids be
independent and work by themselves on actives, which helps build critical thinking skills and
problem-solving skills, both of which first graders struggle with. I feel like this is an excellent
example of developmentally appropriate education because each kid is “in charge” of his or hers
learning with our guidance. This allows the students to have the independence to truly work on
trial and error and not always depend on the teacher for help. Some students need more guidance
than others, but this is a great way to challenge the students without sending them into overload.
Implications and Conclusions
From what I have observed in my field experience and from the research that supports
developmentally appropriate education, I believe that it is the foundation of a classroom. Having
this in the classroom supports student of all academic levels, no matter how high or low they are.
The main goal behind a developmentally appropriate classroom is not just getting to know
students on an academic level, but on a personal level. When getting to know a student on a
personal level, and getting him or her to truly open, and blossom into a different student.
For developmentally appropriate education to reach its full potential, teachers must look
into physical, mental, social/emotional characteristics of a student to see why exactly are they the
way they are. Some examples that sticks out to me for physical characteristics is when a student
does not wear his/her glasses to school. Just a simple, “Hey buddy, where are your glasses?”
This may seem like something small, but he or she will think you noticed something huge. If a
student does forget his/her glasses, you can offer to call home to see if mom or dad can bring
them and if not, move him or her closer to the board.

With mental characteristics, teachers may think that this is obvious and it will just come
second nature to them when they are creating lesson plans. However, this is where a lot of
teachers fail their students; as educators, we must get to know our students down to the very last
detail so we can create goals and lessons that are made just for them. This could be as easy as
having them draw a picture and explain it to you in detail because they are not at the level of
writing in specific detail yet. There are numerous ways of differentiating a lesson for your
students, and we just need to find the one that is going to work the best for that student.
When we are talking about making social and emotional connections with students, you
must get creative and listen. In my field experience with first grade, all the kids were obsessed
with a dance called “flossing”, and they did it constantly. They would ask us to do it, and we
would just laugh and ignore them. Well, we had been getting low test scores on our spelling
tests, so we told the kids if everyone passed their spelling test, my cooperating teacher and I
would “floss” for them. Every single one of those students passed their spelling test on Friday.
We performed our poor “floss”, and they laughed very hard, then went on with the rest of the
day. Just that little detail that we caught and turned it into an incentive made a difference in
every single student’s life.
In a classroom without developmentally appropriate education it would be very difficult
to not only manage and help students get what they need, but it would also be stressful. If a
classroom doesn’t have goals for each student to reach, how are they monitored on success? If
you are trying to teach every single child the same way, there is no way you are keeping each
child’s attention. If you are teaching a student something, and he or she does not know what is
going on the child is more than likely going to shut down on you and give up. Having a
developmentally appropriate classroom is critical for all students so that they are comfortable
enough to let you know when things are too difficult or to let you know that they need to be
challenged more.
Additionally, when you are setting goals in your classroom for each of your students, you
need to make sure each student is getting exactly what they need. When this method is not
practiced in the classroom, a student’s learning can be seriously hindered and affect the way he
or she develop throughout the rest of the child’s education. When a student is not receiving what
he or she needs because the work is too easy, behavior problems can start to cause other issues in
your classroom. Then if the work is too hard for students, they will not want to do it or will feel
like they are getting left behind, and no student should ever feel this way.
If a classroom is not properly managed with developmentally appropriate education for
each student, it can become stressful for not only the students but the teacher. A classroom is
filled with enough stressful situations to start with, and it does not need to have students shut
down by the work being too difficult. When the students are progressively meeting goals along
the way, they are gaining confidence and keeping them going to reach the ultimate goal- moving
on to the next grade.
Developmentally appropriate education, based on observation and research, is needed for
success. It is also necessary for teaching students the way they need to be and how to build close
relationships. Students are more likely to learn and retain information if they are interested and
enjoy what they are studying. I was fortunate enough to observe some great examples of
developmentally appropriate education and some bad examples of it that are going to help me in
my future classroom. We as educators are not just teaching students information to help them get
to the next grade, but to help them be better people as they grow into adults, and these are the
reasons why developmentally appropriate education is critical.

References:
Berger, K. S. (2015). The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence (Tenth ed.).
New York, NY: Worth.
Child Poverty. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html
Coople, C. (2009). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs

(Third ed.) (S. Bredekamp, Ed.). National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
Jensen, E. (2009) Teaching with poverty in mind. Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-
Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx
Kumtepe, A. T. (2005). The Effects of Developmentally Appropriate Practices on Children's

Reading Development from Kindergarten Through Third Grade (Doctoral dissertation,
Florida State University, 2005) [Abstract]. 1-195. doi:file:///Users/user/Downloads/PDF
datastream.pdf
Lipari, R. N., Ph.D, & Van Horn, S. L., M.A. (2017, August 24). Children Living with Parents
Who Have a Substance Use Disorder. Retrieved May 2, 2019, from
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_3223/ShortReport-3223.html
Moessner, Chris. "Cyberbullying, Trends and Tudes." NCPC.org. Accessed February 10, 2014,
http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/bullying/Cyberbullying%20Trends%20-
%20Tudes.pdf.
Richards, J. (n.d.). Poverty & Child Development. Retrieved from

https://www.livestrong.com/article/232889-poverty-child-development/
Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY: Pearson.
Stallen, M. (2017, September 25). Poverty and the Developing Brain. Retrieved from
http://behavioralscientist.org/can-neuroscientists-help-us-understand-fight-effects-
childhood-poverty/
"Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey." Cox Communications. Accessed February 14, 2014,
http://ww2.cox.com/wcm/en/aboutus/datasheet/takecharge/2009-teen-
survey.pdf?campcode=takecharge-research-link_2009-teen-survey_0511.
The National Association for The Education Of Young Children. (2018). 3 Core Considerations
of DAP. Retrieved May 2, 2019, from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/dap/3-
core-considerations
Welles, M., Urban, L., & Curra, S. (2019, February 21). How to Know if Your Child is Being
Bullied-and What to Do About It. Retrieved from https://thewell.northwell.edu/well-
informed/how-know-if-your-child-being-bullied-and-what-do-about-it
Woolfolk, Anita. (2013). Educational Psychology, 12th ed. Pearson.

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Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE EDUCATION 1

Developmentally Appropriate Education

Ohio Christian University

learning? Poverty and the Developing Brain (2017) answers,

structure were particularly present in areas involved in memory, language

processing, and decision-making and self-control. The most consistent finding

in poverty were associated with a smaller hippocampus” (para 6-7).

goods; he or she just needs a little dusting to find full potential.

and exploration for optimal brain development” (para 7).

“The consequences of poverty—emotional issues, delayed development and

struggle with poverty. Poverty affects an increasing number of children. From

prematurity is associated with many cognitive and learning problems. Children in

skills” (p. 213).

make a positive impact on a student to change his or her outlook on school.

who have been abused are too scared to speak out.

“Unexplainable injuries and/or damaged belongings, sudden avoidance of social

eating, nightmares or difficulty sleeping, declining grades or not wanting to do

destructive behaviors such as self-harm or talk about suicide” (para 7).

difficulties in academic, social, and family functioning when compared with

too far behind.

developmentally appropriate education is before trying to execute it into their classroom.

appropriate education is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), which is an approach to

children learn new information smoothly.

Young Children (2018) states,

us provide meaningful, relevant, and respectful learning experiences for each

child and family” (para 5).

developmentally appropriative education and practice.

his sociocultural theory. Vygotsky is a strong supporter of developmentally appropriate

by an adult or more knowledgeable peer. Slavin (2018) states,

classroom” (pg. 41).

in the following ways:

“First, instruction can be planned to provide practice in the zone of proximal

instructional activities. Second, cooperative learning activities can be planned

teacher”” (pg. 47).

need to shift to allow healthier development.

of Cognitive Development, but in relation to developmentally appropriate education, what is

understand how students truly think.

track and keeping up.

came up with what he thought was better. Berger (2015) quotes,

“He went beyond observation of learning by association, in which one stimulus is

focuses instead on what happens after a behavior elicits a particular response. If

if the consequence is unpleasant, the animal might not” (pg. 44).

student knows what not to do.

Modeling is very important in a classroom that is developmentally appropriate because

by always staying positive and giving them what they need.

B. Watson, an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behavorism.

(2015) quotes Watson by stating,

learned. Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified

always feel like they can learn anything in your classroom.

trying to teach them.

Last, Alper T. Kumtepe is a Doctor of Philology who opposes developmentally

appropriative education and practice. He wrote his dissertation on “The Effects of

Developmentally Appropriate Practices on Children's Reading Development from Kindergarten

of early childhood education, the overall number of empirical studies evaluating

children’s academic achievement and growth. Of the 11 published studies that

1999), five studies reported mixed or no effects (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 1990;

and was developmentally appropriate for the entire classroom.

had to find a reading class to do my lessons with.

drawing was developmentally appropriate for them.

Furthermore, when I was in my first-grade placement, I was at Circleville Elementary

differentiate and create appropriate education for all students in my class.

lesson was not developmentally appropriate for her.

Implications and Conclusions