Why are you here?
REALLY…..
Praxis I test ~ NEW test
Pre K 4 ~
1. Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment (PAPA) Reading, Writing, &
Math ***(starting 4/2/12) Replaces Praxis I (but Praxis I can be used for current
students if test has already been taken. After 4/2012 all students should be advised to take
the PAPA).
2. Praxis II: Fundamental Subjects Content Knowledge (#0511)
3. ***Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests (PECT) Grades PreK-4: Core and
Professional Knowledge (Modules 1, 2, 3)
Pre K 4 & Special Education
1. Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment (PAPA) Reading, Writing, &
Math ***starting 4/2/12 Replaces Praxis I (but Praxis I can be used for current
students if test has already been taken. After 4/2012 all students should be advised to take
the PAPA).
2. Praxis II: Fundamental Subjects Content Knowledge (#0511)
3. ***Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests (PECT) Grades PreK-4: Core and
Professional Knowledge (Modules 1, 2, 3)
4. ***SPED Specialty Test: Modules 1 & 2
The candidate will prepare a two (2) page,
well written and grammatically correct, word processed essay that
includes the following components:
 A statement of the candidate's reasons for wanting to be part of
the teaching profession.
 A description of the candidate's "teacher identity", highlighting
relevant experiences and personal strengths.
 A description of the candidate’s beliefs about teaching and
learning and the theories that support those beliefs.
 A discussion of how the candidate will be an intentional teacher of
diverse students, incorporating ways to meet the needs of all
learners.
 A description of the candidate's goals for continued professional
development to be completed prior to student teaching.
BEO: Beginning
Educator
Outcomes
 BEO Checklist
 4 ARTIFACTS
(B,C,D)
 BEO listed – Is this the
What is important to know and
be able to do….everyday as a
Teacher!
correct match??
 Rationale –
 1) What is the artifact,
when, where?
 2) How did this artifact
help you understand or
demonstrate your
understanding of the BEO
above??
Understanding and Applying
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices
Chapter 3
Developmentally
Appropriate
Practice
Framework for organizing
basic knowledge about early
childhood education
Evolved over time
Defining principles and
guidelines
What is DAP?
 Developmentally appropriate practice is teaching that
is:
 Attuned to children’s ages, experience, abilities and
interest
 That helps them attain challenging and achievable goals
 Focus on how children develop and learn optimally:
 Age-related
 Individual human variation
Position
Statement
• Summary of the field’s best
thinking
• A defense of its valued
practices
• An advocacy tool for
improving programs for
young children
Meeting Children
where they are
• Continuous Observations
• Decision making:
• Plan curriculum
• Adapt teaching strategies
• Continual progress
• Reaching Challenging and Achievable goals
Intentional teachers
 Have a purpose for everything that they do
 Are thoughtful and prepared
 Can explain the rationale for their decisions and
actions to other teachers, administrators, or parents
 An Intentional ESU Pre K 4 teacher is a Reflective
and Deliberate Decision Maker
Making Informed Decisions
1. Age appropriate ~ Consider what is known about
development and learning of children within a given age
range
2. Individual Child ~ Consider what is known about each child
individually ~ personality, strengths, interests, abilities ~
each child takes away something different
3. Culturally appropriate ~ Consider what is known about the
social and cultural contexts in which children live
Knowledge is substantial and changes over time!
Knowing Children
What is it about children that should inform our teaching practice?
Study Groups: Read # & # - Make sure you understand meaning!
Principles of Child Development and Learning
that Inform Practice
1. All the domains of development and learning are important,
closely interrelated and one domain influences what takes place
in other domains.
2. Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow
documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge
building on those already acquired.
3. Development and learning proceed at varying rates from child to
child, as well as at uneven rates across different areas of a child’s
individual functioning.
4. Development and learning result from a dynamic and continuous
interaction of biological maturation and experience.
Principles of Child Development and Learning
that Inform Practice
5. Early experiences have profound effects, both cumulative and
delayed, on a child’s development and learning; and optimal
periods exist for certain types of development and learning to
occur.
6. Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation,
and symbolic or representational capacities.
7. Children develop best when they have secure, consistent
relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive
relationships with peers.
8. Development and learning occur in and are influenced by multiple
social and cultural contexts.
Principles of Child Development and Learning
that Inform Practice
9. Always mentally active in seeking to understand the world around them,
children learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and
interactions are effective in supporting learning.
10. Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as for
promoting language, cognition, and social competence.
11. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to
achieve just beyond their current mastery, and when they have many
opportunities to practice new skills.
12. Children’s experiences shape their motivation and approaches to
learning, such as persistence, initiative, and flexibility; in turn, these
dispositions and behaviors affect their learning and development.
Role of the ECE Teacher
Five interrelated dimensions:
1. Creating a caring community of learners
2. Teaching to enhance learning and development
3. Planning curriculum to meet important goals
4. Assessing children’s learning and development
5. Establishing reciprocal relationships with families
“Widening the Lens”
 Move beyond either/or thinking
 To BOTH/AND THINKING when solving problems or
making decision about practice
 Rejects simple answers to complex questions
 Requires diverse perspectives
 Consider several possible correct answers
 Complexity and interrelationship among the principles
that guide ECE practice
Research base
 Well grounded research forms the basis of NAEYCs
position statements on developmentally appropriate
practice
 Provides a solid guidance for early childhood educators
 DAP Research show gains in:
 Social-Emotional Development
 Learning
Knowing children +
Knowing how to teach +
Knowing what to teach +
= EFFECTIVE PRACTICE