ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

the article was right on target. How did we get to this place? I have been in early ed
for over 50 years and I am very very sad about what is happening to young children!!!

I must agree with what Lori has said in her comments. We learn about what children are capable of and what they already know by having quality interactions with them NOT by testing them. I am shocked with what I read in this Exchange news brief. All Early Childhood professionals know that children learn best by following their lead in play.

The idea is not testing preschoolers but incorporating authentic assessment for all early childhood learners, which includes up the eight years of age.

this is so inappropriate. If this is what Early Childhood education is now I am glad I have retired.

I was not happy to read about young children taking this type of test. Please let four year olds be four!!
If this is how it is now in Early Childhood education, I am glad I am retired from the field

Testing young children is "flat-out" developmentally inappropriate. Taking anecdotal notes on what the children do and say is appropriate monitoring of their progress, and then using accepted developmental guidelines to facilitate understanding of the observations is an effective method. The High/Scope Foundation publishes the C.O.R. Early Childhood Assessment Tool, which is a developmentally-appropriate method used to monitor children's progress. It works well, and should be adopted everywhere! The testing Company's are greedy and want schools' money, regardless how developmentally-inappropriate their testing is. Early childhood educators need to stand up for children's rights not to be tested.

The Universal Preschool Act is the leader in this charge to test. The Los Angeles Universal Preschool project has hundreds of preschools under it's wing that requires mandatory testing and teach to testing. We were a part of the project for 6 years and were pushed out because we objected to all the "experts", "reading and math specialists", "special university produced curriculum" all to give us "improved" test scores and provide "kindergarten readiness" and proof to funding agencies and Boards of "measurable " results.

This article is so disturbing to me. There is research on the many NYC kindergarteners, whose parents pay dearly for tutors in order to have their children identified as "gifted." By third grade, a great number of these children are re- identified as typical. Drilling young children robs them of their childhood and the results are inaccurate: smoke and mirrors.

My classroom in a bustling, happy place where the children on any day are involved in dramatic play, building towers (and knocking them down), creating cards and pictures for family and friends, talking (and arguing) with classmates, listening to stories--the classroom is alive. The children love to talk with the teachers about what they are doing or what's on their mind. They look to us when they can't solve a problem, whether it be a puzzle or a social situation. They know they can trust the teacher's guidance. I do not support the idea of testing, as Nancy said--I know what my children can do from the interactions we have. They are constantly evolving and growing. Letters, numbers, colors are around us everyday and part of our normal conversation. I do not even like the term 'curriculum' in the early childhood world. Learning is so natural for children--until we make it unnatural with our inappropriate expectations --worksheets and testing. These are the years when school should be a joy to attend. There are already natural stressful situations for the children to deal with at school: separating from a parent, challenging social-emotional situations with peers, learning patience and empathy---this is where our focus needs to be. We need to stand up for childhood!

Pushing children to do things before they are ready doesn't prepare them, it hurts them. The developmental timeline along which children grow and develop has not changed, but we persist in asking them to achieve milestones for which they are not physically, cognitively, and/or socially mature enough. Our efforts are misguided, doing harm in the long run. "The prime purpose of being FOUR* is to enjoy being FOUR." Jim Trelease *or any preschool age-my comment

No wonder people are confused about tests, assessments, and accountability! This article confuses three distinctly different kinds of assessments. The Apgar test is a critical tool used in hospitals to assess the health of infants and to allow doctors to immediately address important and sometimes life-threatening medical needs; assessments for giftedness (and various developmental delays) are used to make sure programs match the unique developmental needs of all students; and using academic tests on young children is simply a push-down of the assembly line approach of American education. Let's be clear on what we are talking about before we deconstruct it! Preparing young children to fill in test bubbles because they will need to do this in later grades is like teaching a 5-year- old how to drive a car because as an adult he/she will need to learn to drive!

I am a retired educator. I have over 35 years in education. I taught the first all day every day Kindergarten in the state of Nebraska.
This article makes me so angry and sad. We as teachers of the very young need to fight this ridiculous idea that testing is okay. I cannot believe that we are saying oh well...it's what we must do, because we are told by those who have little to no experience with teaching children. The research is clear. The results have little long term effects on life long learning.
My classroom was filled with a variety of thoughtful learning centers that allowed children of all abilities and experiences to discover, play, and use language. I worked with teachers who believed and still believe this is how we teach young children. We asked purposeful questions and had conversations with each child. We observed and made careful assessments regarding their growth. Let's get back to the real reason we love young children! Stop testing!

Please stop testing preschoolers and let them be children. As preschool teachers we need to do what is developmentally appropriate for our children and testing is not. Children need to investigate and be problem solvers and sitting them down for tests will only harm their ability to grow into critical thinkers. Just because Kindergarten through third is completely developmentally inappropriate does not mean we need to follow in their foot-steps. What we should be doing is fighting to change the way K-3 is taught and looked at in and outside the education world. We need to encourage children to be problem solvers and right now our children are losing creativity and critical thinking skills due to our inappropriate practices. We need to fight against testing and teach our children the way we know is best. Policies are made by too many people that are not in the classroom and have no idea how child development works. They just see numbers. We need to make them see through the eyes of educators, not politicians, so they start seeing children instead.

I am surprised to read that Head Start "tests". They are supposed to be so "developmental". Let's get back to what children need--lots of social experiences, gross motor and fine motor play opportunities, time to play outside, music, dance, interactions with peers and caring adults. The learning will come within these times. Lots of good literature--reading, puppet play, time to pretend play, opportunities to explore their indoor and outdoor environment.....and did I say play? I do believe that the adults can monitor and note progress without "testing"--we have been doing it for years. I knew my class and children quite well and would sit with them regularly and be sure that their "preschool" skills were on target without a "standardized" test--could they cut out the circle for the snowman we were making at art time? Could they identify the colors of the paint we were using for the project today? Could they write their name and identify the letters? I did not need a standardized test every 3 months to suck up my class time with the children.

Too much and definitely not developmentally appropriate! We need education revolution in this country.