This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter details a study providing a descriptive account of practices in five early elementary classrooms in the ECDC wherein developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) principles have been the focus of curriculum development and teacher inservice training. Three specific prescriptive components of DAP were explored in the study: age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and center-based instruction. The extent to which these three prescriptive practices were a part of the daily reality in the observed classrooms was assessed through non-obtrusive observational methods. Findings revealed that even within a setting specifically designed to facilitate developmentally appropriate education, there was substantial variation surrounding major themes and teaching strategies. A lack of understanding about the specific tools for promoting developmentally appropriate environments remains the major challenge for teacher education programs. (EV)