Staff and parents can increase their awareness of available services for families by working with other agencies in the community. Such collaboration may even result in services being made available at the school site. There are many advantages to a partnership between public school staff and staff from other private and public programs for young children for the purpose of professional development. A collegial partnership in which information and expectations are shared can help parents and children make smooth transitions from one program to another. Programs P ublic schools need to make plans to support and sustain changes that are made.
Schools can schedule time for grade-level meetings to assess changes and make further improvements.
A professional development plan and an evaluation component can also be established. Conclusion P ublic schools can make changes to better meet the needs of young children. Such changes need to be carefully planned and based on research and theory about what is appropriate for young children. Each change can be implemented over a period of time so that those involved have time to make preparations. Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8.