Stand Up! Stand Strong! For All Children!
We stand in solidarity with Dr. Cooper's decision to resign from her position as the Secretary of Early Learning in Alabama. The following statement is in support of Dr. Cooper’s and Cultivate Learning’s commitment to upholding the well-being of all children and families, especially children of color and LGBTQIA+ families.
Stand Up! Stand Strong! For All Children!
We stand in solidarity with Dr. Cooper's decision to resign from her position as the Secretary of Early Learning in Alabama. The following statement is in support of Dr. Cooper’s and Cultivate Learning’s commitment to upholding the well-being of all children and families, especially children of color and LGBTQIA+ families.
Statement
We stand in solidarity with Dr. Barbara Cooper, who recently resigned from her role as the head of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education in protest over the denunciation by Governor Kay Ivey of the teacher training publication Developmentally Appropriate Practice 4th Edition (DAP). Dr. Cooper has been an exemplary leader in early childhood education and her contributions to the development of equitable, high quality early learning programs in this country are numerous and commendable.
At Cultivate Learning, we believe any abuse of power that pushes politically motivated agendas that harm children and families and their ability to develop, learn, and thrive in this country is detrimental to our whole society. As an organization deeply committed to innovation, quality, services, diversity, equity, and belonging in early learning and beyond, we unite with NAEYC and countless other learning organizations in our concern about the recent ban of DAP.
DAP is a widely recognized, respected, and evidence-based resource that early childhood educators have used for decades. It is a key tool used to guide their practice, and it helps families promote their young children’s healthy social-emotional, physical, and cognitive development.
It is essential that we maintain our commitment to evidence-based practice in early childhood education and that we continue to rely on the expertise of professionals like Dr. Cooper, who has dedicated her life to the field. By banning DAP, we are limiting resources available to educators, undermining the expertise of researchers and practitioners and decreasing the quality of early learning programs across cities, states, regions, territories, and tribal groups.
The role of early learning is to provide space for children to learn to think critically, to develop their curiosity about the world, engage with innovation, and understand and accept people’s differences.
Dr. Cooper’s decision to resign from her position as the secretary of early learning in Alabama is a testament to her commitment to upholding the well-being of all children and families, especially children of color and LGBTQIA+ families. Her decision to step down is a brave and principled stand against censorship and the suppression of academic and educational freedom.
Please take a moment to review the NAEYC Statement of Support for the DAP and act through the following steps with NAEYC:
- Sign your name onto this statement of support, which NAEYC intends to make public within one week
- Share the link with your colleagues and friends inside and outside of early childhood education
- Post on social media and use hashtags such as #DAPinECE and #EquityinECE
