The recent focus on the effects of early childhood education on future academic success has caused many early childhood teacher educators to examine the relevance of the instruction they give to early childhood professionals for meeting the educational goals for the 21 st century. This study examined the effects of a set of core courses in an early childhood Master's program on teacher's perceptions of their use of developmentally appropriate practices. Thirty Master's students completed a survey about their teaching practices before and after taking a sequence of required courses in early childhood education. The survey measured the graduate students' perceptions of their movement toward adopting developmentally appropriate practices. There was a significant shift toward developmentally appropriate practice in regard to curriculum, instruction, assessment and materials. The discussion section provides recommendations for curriculum and instruction in early childhood Master's programs. (Contains 1 table.)