After the U.S.- based National Association for the Education of Young Children – or NAEYC – launched its national accreditation system for early childhood learning programs in the early 1980s, they made an interesting observation. While their accreditation criteria frequently referenced the term “developmentally appropriate practice”, when they met with different people across a variety of programs, they found little agreement about what that term actually meant. In response, the association released a position statement in the mid-80s to help create a more cohesive understanding and application of the term across the field of early education.
In the same spirit of responsive care that they endorse, NAEYC revises and updates their position statement about every 10 years to respond to the current state of research and social discourse, and to clarify misunderstandings.
The Fourth Edition of NAEYC’s Position Statement was released at the end of 2020. If you’ve been curious about what kind of changes can be found in this latest edition, I’ll be jumping into some of the main concepts and key changes in this episode.
Listen
Notes from the Show:
(*May contain affiliate links.)
Read NAEYC’s newest position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice here.
Compare the changes from the last statement (2009) here.
I mentioned watching one of NAEYC’s recent on-demand trainings on DAP. You can find that for purchase here. (It does offer a one-hour certificate for those who need to track PD hours.)
Sign up for the free ecourse I mentioned and learn about the 5 Keys for Intentional, Whole-Child Development by heading here.
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