Deck 11: Creating Developmentally Appropriate Classrooms: The Importance of Age and Developmental Status

Question 1

Developmentally appropriate practices result from educational decisions based on:

A) knowledge of child development and learning.
B) knowledge of the strengths, interests, and needs of each individual child in a group.
C) knowledge of the social and cultural contexts in which children live.
D) all of these answers are correct.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The publication of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) was an outcome of efforts undertaken by the:

A) Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
B) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
C) Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI).
D) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) guidelines are based, in part, on the principles of:

A) psychoanalysis.
B) behaviorism.
C) constructivism.
D) environmentalism.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Identify a characteristic of Francis Parker's child-centered approach.

A) Pupils were coerced to work at their individual jobs.
B) Students were controlled by their teachers or instructors.
C) School subjects and practical arts were correlated.
D) Students' minds were portrayed as comprised of discrete faculties.

Question 5

Developmentally appropriate practice is effective:

A) only in teaching children of preschool age.
B) only in teaching children at the preschool and primary levels.
C) in teaching young children and students in middle schools but not at the secondary level.
D) in teaching students of all age groups.

Question 6

The term "cognitive structure" refers to:

A) the shape of a developmental disability.
B) the concepts, ideas, and understandings that a child constructs.
C) the concepts, ideas, and understandings that are given to a child.
D) none of these answers are correct.

Question 7

According to the constructivist theory of learning, motivation to learn emerges from the fact that:

A) a child's cognitive structure is continuously challenged.
B) a child is forced to memorize facts.
C) a child has little to do.
D) a child is subject to external motivation techniques.

Question 8

A term referring to perspectives on children's development that emphasize the importance of cultural influences is:

A) "cultural constructivism."
B) "ethnoconstructivism."
C) "social constructivism."
D) "anthropological constructivism."

Question 9

Which of the following is true of student-centered instruction?

A) use of small group organization
B) use of activity centers
C) provision for student choice
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 10

In the constructivist approach to teaching, a teacher's major role is to:

A) reward children's appropriate behaviors.
B) evaluate children's work.
C) support children's curiosities.
D) answer children's questions.

Question 11

In a developmentally appropriate classroom, the teacher assumes that:

A) all students are learning the same thing at any given time.
B) all students learn the same thing, but at different times.
C) students learn in different ways, but they all learn the same thing.
D) students may be learning different things during any particular lesson or activity.

Question 12

Developmentally appropriate assessments focus on:

A) how one student compares with others of the same age or in the same grade.
B) determining which children are ready for school and which children are not.
C) the importance of observation of children in natural activity contexts.
D) determining how students should be grouped for instruction.

Question 13

In Erik Erikson's (1963) familiar formulation, the development of ego identity:

A) is dependent on the 10 stages of psychosocial development.
B) is a lifetime enterprise.
C) is independent of conflicting influences or requirements.
D) is succeeded by multiple childhood crises.

Question 14

The Montessori approach suggests that classrooms for students of any age should be designed:

A) for discovery and activity as teachers model and monitor.
B) to reflect the philosophy of the American progressive education movement.
C) for exceptional and talented children.
D) for children in kindergarten through the second and third grades.

Question 15

Identify an attribute of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP).

A) Its concept emerged in a political context.
B) Its principle stressed that children lack uniqueness.
C) It posits that the ways in which people construct their world are uninfluenced by cultural factors.
D) It is a theory of education and of child development that contradicts the tradition of child pedagogy.

Question 16

The constructivist view differs from the traditional notion of readiness in that constructivists emphasize that cognitive readiness is not a transactional matter.

Question 17

According to critics, the economic goals of schooling place enormous pressures on young children to acquire cognitive knowledge.

Question 18

The theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson support a universal developmental perspective.

Question 19

From a constructivist perspective, knowledge is "made"
by the knower who assimilates new experiences within knowledge structures already present and accommodates to experiences that do not fit neatly into those structures.

Question 20

The constructivist view of readiness differs from the traditional view in that constructivists emphasize that cognitive readiness is not determined simply by biological maturation.

Question 21

The Waldorf approach to education evolved from a school established in 1919 for the children of workers in Stuttgart, Germany.

Question 22

Through most of the 20th century, successive generations of young people entered puberty, on average, earlier than their predecessors, a phenomenon termed "secular trend."

Question 23

In developmentally appropriate classrooms, screening and assessment are excellent ways to decide who should be placed in the top reading group.

Question 24

Given all we have learned about human development, the nature versus nurture debate will probably be finally resolved within the next two or three years.

Question 25

Certain psychological theories of children's development emphasize common developmental patterns independent of culture. Describe at least one example, whether from the chapter, from your reading, or from your own experience, that illustrates a cultural difference in how a child's development proceeds.

Question 26

Constructivism is a philosophical concept involving epistemology. What, if anything, does it have to do with how teachers teach?

Question 27

What does the word "readiness"
mean to educators who espouse the principles of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)?

Question 28

In a developmentally appropriate classroom, it is important that teachers know as much as possible about the learning styles, interests, preferences, strengths, and cultural backgrounds of their students. Discuss briefly why this is the case and how the knowledge of these characteristics might help teachers support their students better.

Question 29

It has been said that the nature versus nurture debate is an ongoing one. Do you agree? If you do, why do you think that is the case? If you disagree, give reasons.

Question 30

Compare and contrast the Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia approaches to education.