Kindergarten is no place for reading standards

A new report from Defending Early Years finds that Common Core reading requirements for kindergarten are inappropriate and poorly grounded in research. Under the CCSS, students are expected to read before they enter first grade. The report finds the pressure of implementing this standard leads many kindergarten teachers to inappropriately drill on specific skills and excessively test. Teacher-led instruction in kindergarten has almost entirely replaced the active, play-based experiential learning that children need based on decades of research in cognitive and developmental psychology and neuroscience. The report therefore calls for the withdrawal of kindergarten standards from the Common Core. High-quality, long-term research must be undertaken to identify which approaches in preschool and kindergarten best help children become fluent readers by fourth grade, particularly those living in poverty. A task force of early childhood educators should recommend developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive guidelines for supporting optimal learning from birth to age 8, and the use of high-stakes testing up to third grade must end, along with use of test scores for teacher evaluation and closing schools. Assessments should be based on observations of children, their development and learning. The report also calls for a high level of professionalism for all early childhood educators, and experienced teachers in low-income communities, accompanied by high-quality teacher preparation and ongoing professional development. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.