Parental perceptions of developmentally appropriate practice in an early childhood program

This research examined parental perception of developmentally appropriate practice in a program accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The 79 parents surveyed had children enrolled in an accredited corporate child-care center in the North Texas area. Five key areas or dimensions of developmentally appropriate practice were examined through a revised Developmentally Appropriate Practice Survey created by Wise (1993). The revised edition (1997) of Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs provided five interrelated guidelines or key areas that "inform the practices of early childhood educators" (p. 16). The revised survey grouped the 24 statements into the following five areas: Establishing reciprocal relationships with families; Creating a caring community of learners; Teaching to enhance learning and development; Constructing appropriate curriculum; Assessing children's learning and development. The purpose of the survey was to determine the parents' levels of understanding.

The Likert Scale scoring resulted in a mean score between 1.0 and 4.0 for each survey statement. Scores also were averaged for each of the five key areas. Results indicated the highest level of understanding in the area related to establishing reciprocal relationships with families. The area with the lowest level of understanding related to assessment of children's learning and development. The highest mean score for an individual statement was 3.88 related to "hands-on learning." The lowest individual score of 2.02 was related to the use of workbooks and worksheets as a learning tool. The findings will be used to plan and develop parent programs to increase understanding in these areas.