Sustaining child outcomes from the Early Childhood Initiative project: Evaluation of school -age developmentally appropriate practices

Research has shown that high quality early childcare can provide positive changes in children's academic, social, and behavioral development. These positive early experiences are essential for children who are at developmental risk. Unfortunately, the positive outcomes from early education programs often diminish or disappear over time. Research has clearly shown the benefits of developmentally appropriate, high quality early childhood intervention. However, limited research has been conducted on the influence of developmentally appropriate practices on child outcomes during the early elementary school years. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcome of DAP from children who were enrolled in The Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) project. The ECI project was developed to provide quality early childcare for children from infancy to preschool living in high-risk neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Developmentally appropriate practices in early elementary classrooms were found to have a statistically significant relationship to children's academic performance. The Social Context of the classroom was a positive predictor of children's academic achievement and children in DAP classrooms rated as Good demonstrated a significant difference in academic performance in comparison to children in classrooms rated as Inadequate. Reading achievement was significantly higher in Good DAP classrooms than Minimal DAP classrooms.