5-Year Olds Get Their Own Standardized Tests
October 16, 2012
Five-year olds are getting their own standardized tests, mandated in over 25 states, in a new Race to the Top requirement. (And a way to get federal dollars.)
What is a standardized test anyway? The basic definition for a standardized test is a test that administered and scored in a standardized way, commercially prepared to measure a student’s performance level as compared to others.
According to Reuters, in some cases, kindergarteners are given an hour-long multiple choice test while other tests are one-on-one with a teacher.
Education experts, parents, and teachers feel concerned about these tests for a number of reasons:
- stressful for kids
- too narrow of a view of a child’s ability
- lack of a post-test to measure growth in some cases (FL & TX)
Those parents and testing proponents (politicians and test makers?) that are in favor of the test are so because:
- they want their children in an academic kindergarten
- it gives a way to evaluate the preschool programs
Unbelievably (or maybe not,) parents can buy a Kindergarten Test Study System! Seven sessions of 30 minutes each for $50.
If you thought the government heard your complaints about over-testing, you would be wrong. Apparently, there can always be more tests.
Are you concerned? Comment here.
Melissa Taylor is a freelance writer, an award-winning educational blogger at ImaginationSoup, an award-winning teacher with a M.A. in Education, and a mom of two children, ages 6 and 9. Follow Taylor on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
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