High Stakes Testing for 4 and 5 Year Olds: Coming this Fall to a Kindergarten Class Near You

If you thought high stakes accountability was problematic for 8 and 9 year old third graders, you should be alarmed/horrified by this article that appeared in yesterdays Waco Tribune which details something I testified about last Spring before the Texas Legislature: high stakes testing for preschoolers.  That's right, Texas appears to be heading down exactly the path I feared where pre-kindergarten and head start schools will be graded by the success of 4 and 5 year olds on an accountability test.  The school will receive a "seal of approval" based on the success of its students on an unproven test given by the same group that will then judge the effectiveness of the test.  Oh, and that same group will then seek additional funding in the next legislative session based on the test it developed, implemented, and then judged. 

Spring Branch has to date refused to participate in this program (except for our students who come from an out-of-district head start program) based on the fact that the curriculum that is being tested is substantially behind what we offer in our highly acclaimed pre-K program.  However, as a result, we have been told that our State funding after this year is at risk.  Indeed, I was told in Austin last Spring that our program is simply "too successful" to continue to be funded.

If I hadn't predicted this, I'd be surprised.  Instead, I continue to simply be dismayed.

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John Young: Testing from cradle to grave

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Back to school we go, with a whole new set of “accountability” measures: for preschoolers?

You may rub your eyes.

They aren’t mandatory, but give policymakers time. We see that those who talk the talk of “less government” and “local control of schools” inevitably walk the walk of top-down control and corporate-style directives from afar.

What is with these people? Why do they trust government so? Isn’t that original sin if you’re a conservative?

Over the last six years, big-government conservatism has taken full flower — whether in nation-building, eavesdropping, morality policing or finding endless ways for well-respected anti-government types to trust in top-down government control.

The most egregious example is what’s happened to public schools. Somehow we have decided to hand more and more power to far-off educrats and executive-branch power mavens. In the process we’ve taken something — teaching — that ought to be personalized and creative and made it into something mass-produced, programmed and copyrighted.

What were we saying about preschoolers?

Our state has become the first to certify preschools, day-care centers and Head Start based on how they prepare children for kindergarten. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. If Head Start isn’t helping prepare students for school, what’s it doing?

The problem is with that corporate, top-down mentality so evident these days. Someone, generally a political ally of the ruling clique, comes up with a set of “accountability measures,” a curriculum, a test, and sells its infallibility to its friends in high places.

In Texas, the new School Readiness Certification System has been implemented, with about 450 prekindergarten classrooms recently getting the seal of approval.

Sounds peachy, but

These may be great operations, indeed, the very best. But many observers worry about putting too much stock in “testable” criteria and that putting academic pursuits above all will warp the preschool experience.

The Bush administration has pushed an initiative to remake Head Start into a reading readiness program — as if the other dimensions of acclimating to group dynamics, washing one’s hands, learning to share the pencils and being 4 years old aren’t enough. Many early educators have pushed back.

Pursuant to their concerns, bills reauthorizing Head Start in Congress eliminate toddler testing. Ah, fudge, say those who would love to sell their tests to every preschool in America.

In Texas, the high priestess of pre-K accountability is, not surprisingly, a friend of the Bushes.

Susan Landry, director of the Texas State Center for Early Childhood Development, created the state certification system using $4 million in state dollars. She and Laura Bush have worked on literacy projects together.

Landry’s system tracks children from preschool to kindergarten, then uses kindergartners’ reading scores and “social skills” tests to determine whether they were served well. Wait. Tests in kindergarten?

Landry told the Dallas Morning News that students should be able to enter kindergarten knowing most of the alphabet and able “to read basic words, such as ‘cat.’ ”

That is highly debatable. Certainly a preschooler should be ready to begin digesting such matter or at least be able to comport himself in a classroom and in a group.

Reading at 4? Some can do it and thrive. For some, they just need to be children.

As said, what Texas has implemented is a voluntary matter, and those classes that have been certified might merit high marks. One shudders, however, at mandating something like this and turning preschools into “drill-and-kill” academies.

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, told the Morning News that the fact that the pre-K certification program has no “force of law” limits its effectiveness in gauging preschools.

That’s just what we need, more “force of law” bearing down on child-care employees and their tiny charges — all in the name of big-government conservatism.

John Young’s column appears Thursday and Sunday. E-mail: [email protected].

Comments

[Consumer Advocate]

WARNING.....

Parents before allowing any child to take a high stakes test that collects personally identifiable information please read this post.

http://personalinfoatrisk.blogspot.com/

[Mike Falick]

Dr. McManis,

I appreciate the time you took this afternoon to discuss my concerns, and I applaud the concept of ensuring quality early childhood education for all students.

Having said that, my concerns include the high stakes testing of 4 and 5 year olds and the mandate that schools utilize a particular program rather than the long accepted choices provided under prior legislation and the Texas Education Agency regulations.

In a nutshell, my concern with high stakes testing of 4 and 5 year olds is that all 4 or 5 year olds do not perform at the same level at the same time, and judging the "success" of a pre-k program on the test results of a 4 or 5 year old is simply bad policy for children. While I have no problem with the idea of assessing students, and indeed believe that is necessary for proper teaching, when that information is then used to determine whether a program will receive your seal of approval and possibly funding, the testing becomes high stakes, and problems are sure to follow, including teaching to the test. If what you are attempting to incentivize is quality teaching and quality pre-k programs, I suggest that you make your quantitative and qualitative system for judging programs public and if independently validated, use your resources to provide directed support to programs that are deficient.

My additional concern, as I discussed in my testimony last Spring, is the limited amount of sunshine and accountability for the criteria necessary to get the seal of approval from the Center. I have looked at the website you directed me to for this information, and I am unable to find it. In addition, I have looked for the articles you indicated supported the program, and am unable to find those on the website as well.

As I said, I welcome the opportunity to continue this dialogue to work toward ensuring the best education for all of the students of our State.

Mike Falick

[Lilla Dale McManis, Ph.D.]

Mr. Falick, I represent the Children's Learning Institute which houses the State Center for Early Childhood Development. I am posting this comment on behalf of Dr. Susan Landry, Director. Our Center administers the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) program for preschoolers at risk for school failure and the accompanying Texas School Readiness Certification System-open to all early childhood education programs. Full details about this work can be found on our website: http://cli.uth.tmc.edu/our-programs/program-overview/TX-school-ready/default.html

We do want to clear up some misconceptions you may have about getting young children ready for school. The State Center was directed by the Texas Legislature to develop the TEEM approach to address the high rate of school failure when children enter kindergarten in Texas. It is evidence-based and uses three instructional components: Texas state adopted curricula (the State Center does not offer a curriculum nor do we mandate a particular curriculum from the state adopted list be used); professional development for teachers which is focused on setting up a child-centered classroom with strong cognitive readiness activities; and child-friendly ongoing progress monitoring for guiding instruction. The State Center was also directed by the Texas Legislature to develop a rating system for early childhood education programs. This work has happened with the input and support of policy makers, children's advocates, experts in the field, school administrators, teachers, parents, and business leaders. The Texas School Readiness Certification System follows children from preschool to kindergarten and uses the reading scores from an assessment (Texas Primary Reading Inventory for English speaking children and Tejas LEE for Spanish speaking children) that the Texas Education Agency already administers to kindergartners and has for many years in over 95% of Texas school districts. Because of the research and feedback from kindergarten teachers of the importance of basic social skills (such as following directions and getting along with peers)for children to make the most of their kindergarten year, a brief social screener is also completed by kindergarten teachers. The determination of a preschool program being certified as a Texas School Ready program happens as a function of the quality of the preschool program in their preparation of young children to be able to have a successful kindergarten year and for future schooling. One key purpose of this work is to give parents the tools they have asked for to help them make decisions in placing their children in preschool. We appreciate your concerns and thank you in advance for your attention and posting of our comment.
Regards, Lilla Dale McManis, Ph.D.

[anonymous]

You asked if HeadStarts are not helping prepare students for Kindergarten what are they doing?
Well, I am a PK/HeadStart teacher and all HeadStarts are not preparing their students for Kindergarten. I taught Kindergarten for 12 years and one of the problems is that the some School Districts just say do whatever HeadStart tells you to do. But, some HeadStarts don't send teachers to staff development that gives them an idea what the students should be working on to be prepared for Kindergarten. Many of the teachers I work with were never told to work on rhyming words, letter sounds etc. We were just told to let them play. Of course children do learn from play but, they need the exposure to letter sounds, rhyming, alliteration, etc.I would like to say that I really enjoy reading your blog. Please do not post my email address, thank you.