TPE 6: Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices
Background information for TPE 6:
TPEs describe knowledge, skills, and abilities for all credential candidates, and they underscore the importance of generically-effective strategies for teaching a broad range of students. The purpose of TPE 6 is to establish additional expectations that are of greatest importance in teaching students at distinct stages of child and adolescent development. It is not the intent of TPE 6 to describe practices that are appropriate or effective only at one developmental level. This TPE describes professional practices that are most commonly used and needed for students in each major phase of schooling, grades K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. [1]
TPE 6A: Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Grades K-3:
During teaching assignments in Grades K-3, candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential understand how to create a structured day with opportunities for movement. They design academic activities that suit the attention span of young learners. Their instructional activities connect with the children’s immediate world; draw on key content from more than one subject area; and include hands-on experiences and manipulatives that help students learn. Candidates teach and model norms of social interactions (e.g., consideration, cooperation, responsibility, empathy). They understand that some children hold naïve understandings of the world around them. Candidates provide educational experiences that help students develop more realistic expectations and understandings of their environment. They know how to make special plans for students who require extra help in exercising self-control among their peers or who have exceptional needs or abilities.
TPE 6B: Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Grades 4-8:
During teaching assignments in Grades 4-8, candidates for a teaching credential build on students’ command of basic skills and understandings while providing intensive support for students who lack basic skills as defined in state-adopted academic content standards for students. They teach from grade-level texts. Candidates design learning activities to extend students’ concrete thinking and foster abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills. They help students develop learning strategies to cope with increasingly challenging academic curriculum. They assist students, as needed, in developing and practicing strategies for managing time and completing assignments. Candidates develop students’ skills for working in groups to maximize learning. They build on peer relationships and support students in trying new roles and responsibilities in the classroom. They support students' taking of intellectual risks such as sharing ideas that may include errors. Candidates distinguish between misbehavior and over-enthusiasm, and they respond appropriately to students who are testing limits and students who alternatively assume and reject responsibility.
[1] TPE 6 does not represent a comprehensive strategy for teaching students at any particular stage; the elements of TPE 6 are intended merely to supplement and not replace the broader range of pedagogical skills and abilities described in the TPEs.