ED401354 UD031331
Title: Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Student Achievement
in Inner-City Elementary Schools.
Author(s): Sherman, Carey Wexler; Mueller, Daniel P.
Pages: 15
Publication Date: June 1996
Notes: Paper presented at Head Start's National Research Conference
(3rd, Washington, DC, June 20-23, 1996).
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: Reports--Evaluative (142); Speeches/meeting papers
(150)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Minnesota
Journal Announcement: RIEMAR1997
There is abundant
theoretical support for the value of Developmentally Appropriate
Practice (DAP) at the elementary school level, but there has been
relatively little research to document its effects. This paper explores
the relationship between DAP and student achievement among low-income
students in St. Paul, Minnesota, using research from an on-going
evaluation of the Head Start-Public School Early Childhood Transition
Demonstration Project. The degree of implementation of DAP in kindergarten,
first, and second grades, and its relationship to student achievement
were studied, and whether there were differential effects on the
Hmong student population was investigated. Two clusters of elementary
schools, six in all, were studied, with the Demonstration project
implemented in one cluster. The preliminary results from this study
indicate that there are significant relationships between DAP in
the classroom and early student achievement in mathematics and reading.
The positive relationships occurred across cultural groups in the
sample. Even though the degree of DAP implementation overall was
relatively modest, impacts on achievement and teacher attitudes
were apparent. (Contains 3 tables and 14 references.) (SLD)
Descriptors: *Academic Achievement; Cultural Differences; *Disadvantaged
Youth; *Elementary School Students; Hmong People; Inner City; *Instructional
Effectiveness; Low Income Groups; Mathematics Achievement; Primary
Education; Reading Achievement; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods;
*Urban Schools
Identifiers: *Developmentally Appropriate Programs; Minnesota (Saint
Paul); Project Head Start
