Many school systems are implementing high-stakes testing in kindergarten.
The use of standardized testing in kindergarten has increased since the inception of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002. This increase continues despite objections from the nation's leading organizations dedicated to early childhood education and development, such as NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), NAECS (National Association of Early Childhood Specialists) and ACEI (Association for Childhood Education International). These organizations strongly discourage the testing of children under the age of eight, and question the value of standardized testing measures for children beyond that age.
Types of Tests
There are many kinds of standardized tests. The most familiar type is group achievement tests. These are paper and pencil tests, such as the SAT, that large groups of individuals take simultaneously. NCLB requires states that receive federal funding implement standardized testing procedures in grades three through eight. However, many states and local school districts begin group achievement testing as early as kindergarten.
Developmental Inappropriateness
According to the NAEYC, ACEI and NAECS, group standardized achievement tests are not appropriate for children under eight. Young children are unable to perform adequately on these measures due to lack of attention, reading skills, or knowledge of testing procedures. Any activity that requires children to not move for lengthy periods is developmentally inappropriate. Children need to move and interact with the environment. Standardized tests do not allow freedom of movement or adaptations for individual learning styles.
Reliability and Validity
Most standardized tests given to kindergarten students are not considered reliable or valid in the traditional sense. Reliability means that an assessment will yield similar results any time it is given. Young children's performance on any measure is notoriously unreliable, and may be effected by: hunger, lack of sleep, time of day, weather, person administering the test, or the testing environment. Validity is the notion that an assessment measures what it is intended to measure. Group achievement tests for any age group often confirm an individual's ability to take a test rather than his comprehension of the content. Predictive validity, the assumption that a test can measure a child's future achievement, is almost never a factor in readiness tests used for that purpose.
Use of Results
How the results of an assessment are used is, in many ways, more important than the test itself. The use of any one test result for education placement, retention or grouping is considered unethical by virtually every educational organization in the world. If a test is given, it should be used as a snapshot of the child's skill level at the time of the test. This information can be used to help inform and design instruction or to screen for disabilities. However, testing in kindergarten should be minimal and used for adapting curriculum, not for placement decisions.
Tags: achievement tests, standardized testing, testing kindergarten, children under, children under eight, group achievement
