During the 1988-89 school year, the Portland, Oregon, Board of Education adopted an approach based on developmentally appropriate practices for improving early childhood education in public schools. Part of the plan for implementing the approach focused on a teachers' self-study process. The goals of the self-study project, in which three elementary schools participated, were to: (1) increase teacher and administrator understanding of developmentally appropriate practices; (2) encourage educators to reflect on their own practices; and (3) develop teachers' leadership skills. Topics addressed by a study document designed to guide the process included interaction between teachers and children; curriculum; and parent involvement. Teachers identified a set of outcomes for their participation in the project. Actual self-study project outcomes exceeded anticipated outcomes. Recommendations include: (1) continued support for the self-study process; (2) a streamlined self-study document; (3) feedback to principals on the effectiveness of the process; and (4) feedback from self-study schools to central offices. Four references are cited. Appendixes include a self-study document for teachers of prekindergarten through second grade; copies of a pre-study teacher questionnaire and principal interview form; the long-range plan for implementing developmentally appropriate practice; and self-study rating sheets for schools. (BC)