Measuring the developmental appropriateness of kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices

A questionnaire measure of kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices based on the guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) was administered to 204 kindergarten teachers. A principal components analysis of the questionnaire responses produced six reliable beliefs factors and eight reliable practices factors. Observations in 20 kindergarten classrooms confirmed that a composite score derived from the responses to the items on the strongest beliefs factor (Developmentally Inappropriate Activities and Materials) could be used to identify teachers who use more developmentally appropriate than inappropriate practices and those who use more developmentally inappropriate than developmentally appropriate instructional practices. The results provide support that the instruments developed hold promise for utilization in future research on kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices.