Posted ByJennifer Gormley on June 19, 1999 at 22:02:42:
In Reply to: Re: school readiness posted byWendy Griffith on May 29, 1999 at 07:21:15:
: As a parent and educator, I am opposed to any sort of "testing" or "evaluations" for kindergarten readiness. I have a personal experience where five of the preschool teachers felt my daughter was ready for kindergarten. They tested her and the end result...she missed the cut off date for her birthday by two weeks, so we will not accept her. What was the point of testing?
: When children are five (or the age your state mandates) then they begin kindergarten. Why should someone get these children "ready" for kindergarten? Who will do it for those without access to preschool or Head Start?
: Let's work on getting the school districts ready for the students. Get rid of these purchased curriculums and encourage developmentally appropriate practice and child centered learning. Kindergarten seems to be very academic now. What happened to developing social skills?
: There are adults that do not test well under pressure. How can we expect to get optimal results from children?
: What about the children who "fail" these tests? How long do they continue to be tested for readiness until they are permitted into that classroom that needs them to be "ready"? Will we have preschool readiness testing someday?
: As a preschool teacher, I want to form my own opinions about the children and their strengths. I can do this much more effectively by observing them over a period of time, than by reading a printout of test scores or even an evaluation by a trained tester.
: Gina, I would love to hear about any new developments in this area. I have watched so many changes evolve in the ECE field and I am paying particular attention to this thread.
: Wendy Griffith
: : Hello,
: : I'm interested in your input as educators, parents, policy makers, therapists...regarding school readiness (Goal 2000 - All children will enter school ready to learn). What should be the outcomes? How should they be measured? How often should the child be assessed? What constitutes readiness? What is the criteria? Should assessment be looked at from an academic standpoint without any regard to social emotional development? What are the best standarized assessment tools (valid and reliable) to measure development across domains?
: : Your advice, recommendations, questions, and comments are greatly apprecialted.
: : Gina Easterly
Having taught young fives and later fours at the preschool level, I have witnessed some of the readiness testing first hand. At one school this year, the teachers were asked to fill out a 27-page "report" on the children's academics. (i.e. one page showed if they knew lowercase letters, one page showed if they could tell their numbers. one page asked the children to draw the shapes...and on and on and on) Clearly, I believe this was not geared for early childhood at all. It went against all I believe in. I could see much more growth in their social, emotional, concentration, learning skills, etc. than what the "test" showed. This book made the students who did not know some things look like they may not be ready for kindergarten. However, children do not have to know everything before getting to kindergarten. Kindergarten teachers appreciate any letter knowledge the students pick up, that the children can write their name, and that they are beginning to cut on lines and around things. These teachers want the children to be able to focus, and be somewhat independent learners. All these skills can be accomplished and fostered in a center-style preschool with some structure. While teaching three's this year, the children made a teddy bear book that was used for conferences. The poem "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" was used for the this. Each page showed a different skill. For example, on the page "teddy bear, teddy bear climb up the stairs", the children were asked to paint UNDER the stairs, and then glue the teddy on the paper. There was enough opened-endness, yet with some structure. I think a book format would be a great evaluation tool for fours and fives as well.