Developmental Psychology

Competent teachers have a good understanding of children's development and know how to create instruction materials appropriate for their developmental levels (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Horowitz & others, 2005). U.S. schools are organized by grade and to some degree by age, but these are not always good predictors of children's development. At any grade level, there is usually a two- or three-year span of ages with an even wider span of skills, abilities, and developmental stages. Understanding developmental pathways and progressions is extremely important for teaching in ways that are optimal for each child (Horowitz & others, 2005, p. 93).