Two 1sts for Kindergarteners: Standardized Test & the 1st Day of School
Kindergarten is not what it used to be. For the last two years, Oregon’s kindergarteners have been taking a kindergarten assessment during the first week—sometimes the first day—of school. Education advocates from Oregon Save Our Schools (SOS) say kindergarteners shouldn’t even be taking the test.
“The test itself is not reliable and valid, and it’s an inappropriate test to be giving to kindergarteners,” said Dana Brenner-Kelley, a member of Oregon SOS and a North Portland resident.
Brenner-Kelley is organizing three events this month—Aug. 20, 21 and 23—to make parents aware of the tests and tell them how to opt out. All of the events will have kindergarten teachers available to add perspective. Two of the events will also screen “Education, Inc.”
Two Tests
The Oregon Kindergarten Assessment is different from the Smarter Balanced tests that have received heated debate and perhaps more attention.
For starters, the kindergarten assessment is given at the beginning of the year instead of at the end of the year. And it’s not tied to teacher evaluation, which the Smarter Balanced tests are. “They’re really quite different, which is why it hasn’t been one of the policies we’ve worked on,” said Stand for Children spokesman Kelsey Cardwell.
Stand for Children has been supportive of the Common Core standards and the correlating Smarter Balanced tests.
Ultimately, to Brenner-Kelley, the problem for both tests stems from an increased corporatization of education. The Oregon Education Investment Board, started by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, was “made up of business leaders with corporate interests in guiding education.” Though the board was disbanded by Gov. Kate Brown, the legacy lives on.
“It’s high stakes from a systemic point of view,” Brenner-Kelley said. For her the question is: “How is this data going to be used in a way that affects this child in inappropriate ways?”
While the test results are showing lower scores for low-income students, which could drive more funding toward low-income schools, Brenner-Kelley said that “drilling” academics into children at a younger age will “create much worse performance for these kids.”
The testing is “high stakes” in the sense that it places pressure on programs that are publicly funded to implement more rigorous academics at an earlier age in order to maintain funding.
A former Washington state Head Start Association director, she said what kids need at an early age is play-based GoLocalPDX | Two 1sts for Kindergarteners: Standardized Test & the 1st Day of School: