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Is Testing Preschoolers a Good Idea?
March 4, 2015
Where there is great love there are always miracles.
-Willa Cather
-Willa Cather
The most controversial ExchangeEveryDay in 2006 was published on November 17 in response to a Washington Post article, "The Rise of the Testing Culture: As Exam-Takers Get Younger, Some Say Value Is Overblown," which raised some interesting issues about testing (and stimulated 35 comments):
"Along with painting and gluing and coloring and playing, Kisha Lee engages the youngsters in her day-care program in another activity: testing. Three- and four-year-olds take spelling tests of such words as I, me, and the, as well as math tests, from which they learn how to fill in a bubble to mark the right answer. Test preparation for children barely out of diapers is hardly something Lee learned while getting her education degree at the University of Maryland, she said. But it is what she says she must do - for the kids' sakes - based on her past experience teaching in a Prince George's County elementary school.
"'Kids get tested and labeled as soon as they get into kindergarten,' said Lee, who runs the state-certified Alternative Preschool Solutions in Accokeek. 'They have to pass a standardized test from the second they get in. I saw kindergartners who weren't used to taking a test, and they fell apart, crying, saying they couldn't do it. The child who can sit and answer the questions correctly is identified as talented,' Lee said. 'It hurts me to have to do this, but it hurts the kids if I don't.'
"Lee's approach underscores the culture of testing that reigns in the United States. Americans like tests so much that they have structured society around them. Newborns are greeted into the world with the Apgar test to measure activity, pulse, reflex, appearance, and respiration. Getting a 3 or below is like getting an F. Soon to follow are assessments - the first of many- that will compare them with their peers. Are they crawling, sitting, walking at the correct age? In no time, kids are facing tests to measure school readiness. Four-year-olds are tested in literacy and math in Head Start programs, and kindergartners undergo tests to see who is 'gifted.' By then, they are firmly ensconced on the testing treadmill."
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Comments (15)
Displaying 5 of 15 Comments [ View all ]nc, United States
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!!!
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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.
ACSB
Gainesville, FL, United States
The idea is not testing preschoolers but incorporating authentic assessment for all early childhood learners, which includes up the eight years of age.
United States
this is so inappropriate. If this is what Early Childhood education is now I am glad I have retired.
United States
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
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