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DEL.ICIO.USShould kindergartners be assessed more?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As kindergarten kids playfully sort through the letters and numbers at work stations, a teacher is watching with a clip board in hand.
She jots down notes, asks questions, assesses their progress on a checklist. Can they recognize the letters and the sounds they make? Are any letters upside down? Do the children socialize and share?
The examinations can be repeated numerous times each day or week in today’s Georgia kindergarten classrooms under a new state program that gives kindergarten teachers the flexibility to continuously assess students. The data collected on each kid is fed into a computer that can spit out progress reports on how close a child is to meeting the Georgia Performance Standards for students.
The initiative, called GKIDS (Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills) replaces the traditional test used three times a year by Georgia kindergarten teachers to rate students. The upgrade means more frequent assessments and academic rigor for five-and-six-year-olds in kindergarten, a place where nap time has been eliminated and free play is fleeting.
State officials say the year-long evaluations should provide a more accurate picture of what a kindergartner knows because they are done over time. Some teachers have already begun the impromptu assessments which can be performed in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, approaches to learning, personal and social development, social studies, science and motor skills.
Do you think teachers should be assessing kindergartners more frequently to see what they are learning at school? Should kindergartners have more play time instead to get used to the idea sitting in a classroom all day?
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Comments
By Gwinnett Educator
September 8, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
I am just running in and out. I am not sure about assessing the students more in Kindergarten, but as a 1st grade teacher, I am noticing a huge gap between the two grades. I feel like I am teaching Kindergarten (minus the paraprofessional). Out of 21 students, I have 4 that are ready (academically) for 1st grade.
Something is going on and it is a concern for all of the 1st grade teachers that I have spoken to.
By V for Vendetta
September 8, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this
Interesting point, GE, but I wonder why that is? Please share more because I think you have a unique insight here.
Why is this the case? Back in the day, kids went to kindergarten for only HALF A DAY, and I don’t know about you, but I think we all turned out pretty good. I have a theory, one that will get some people’s hackles up, but I think kindergarten is a perfect example: Parents now are dropping the ball in a BIG way.
I’m sure tons of people are going to freak out claiming that they are certainly not THAT kind of parent, and they’re probably right, but the sad truth is that the MAJORITY of parents seem to be effing up left and right these days. If kindergarteners were able to succeed with only a half day of instruction twenty years ago, why can’t they succeed with a FULL day of more rigorous learning now? The answer is because they’re not getting the same level of LEARNING at home. Parents want the schools to do EVERYTHING, including raise their child. It’s sad.
By Gwinnett Educator
September 8, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this
I am back (due to a scheduled movie on the closed circuit screen..sigh).
V, I was one of those half day Kindergarten children, so I know what you are talking about.
I wish I could put my finger on it but it is SO frustrating. This yr is HORRIBLE! I spent 10 mins 2 Fridays ago trying to get the students to CIRCLE THE SET THAT SHOWED 3!!! I even drew it on the board (used shapes instead of hats that was in the book). They still could NOT grasp it. The week before was a tooth pulling moment trying to skip count by 2s and actually WRITE the numbers (work book again) Im ready to move to 8 and they were still stuck trying to write 6. By the time we got to 12, 14..I turned on the projector and typed the numbers and told them to copy what they saw. Needless to say, that next day…we spent the DAY working on Math and those numbers. (still doing it too).
Their mindset seems to be that of…everything is an OPTION! They are acting as if Kindergarten wasn’t school or something. They act as if their day wasn’t structured. On top of not knowing their numbers..knowing their sounds and the alphabet…WHEW thats another BOOK right there to type. And here I am..supposedly trying to prepare them for the benchmark test in Oct (yes..COMPLETE with the scantron sheet or whatever you call it with the bubbling in). YEAH..RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT! We cant even darken in a CIRCLE after I have shown them on the board (5 questions) and the Benchmark will have 30 questions if I am not mistaken.
I could go on and on (as you all can see) but there is something happening. It’s sad and it’s SCARY. If you look at what I am able to complete in a day, you would shake your heads and probably think that I am not working. It’s not that. It’s just that I have to spend SO MUCH TIME doing the same thing and trying to get them to understand and complete that ONE assignment. Guided reading??? Centers?? They haven’t learned the routine yet and its the 2nd wk of SEPT! (and yes, I am very consistent with my day/routine)
Ok..the movie is over (finally)…that was a wasted 45 mins.
By catlady
September 8, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this
I started teaching kindergarten in 1973 when it was a pilot program in a few school systems. We used the Metropolitan Test of Readiness twice a year. It was a joke. Then the state dept devised a test that took about 2 hours to give and most of it was individual. So I spent weeks giving it (at the end of the year.)
One difference is that the demands of each grade seem to be higher each year, but little emphasis on mastery before you go on.
Kids watched a great deal less TV. Parents were more likely to be together. Kids were expected to amuse themselves instead of being amused by flickering images and remote control.
I was thinking today, as I followed a school bus picking up kids at their driveways who were on their way to school to be fed school breakfast and their snotty noses taken care of by the school nurse while the school counselor and social worker try to get in touch with parents, then eat a school lunch and go home again to their individual driveways by a school bus, I was thinking about how little seems to be required of parenting now. Just get em up and dressed and forget about them till 4:30. Plunk them in front of the TV or nintendo with a bowl of cereal until they fall asleep.
Our whole world seems a lot tougher to me than it used to.
By jim d
September 8, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
aileen
To be quite frank dear, 5 year olds belong at home not at school. However it is nice to see you back at the blog
By SallyB
September 8, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this
Well, catlady, we started teaching at the same time ..1973. And you’re right, more parents WERE together, albeit sometimes unhappily. AND the TV/Video games were not an issue. But as I think back to my own childhood, my parents, and the parents of most of my friends, did NOT spend time teaching us anything other than MANNERS and SELF DISCIPLINE, which , of course, are of utmost importance!!! Although my memories are kindergarten are fading, I remember playing a lot….with only a little academics. Then in elementary school, we played after school until dark with our friends …and on Saturdays and Sundays, too….and summers were just pure joy. We ate with our families and church, [maybe]…but the teaching was left to the teachers , except as noted above. And we did turn out well….for the most part,didn’t we?????. This whole big change is an enigma, isn’t it????
By jim d
September 8, 2008 6:08 PM | Link to this
I see cat, so it all falls back on parenting?
Let me just throw this out at y’all.
If one must be a teacher to teach, Why can’t teachers teach?
i believe because many of them don’t know anything.
Teacher education in this country is a massive fraud. It drives out dedicated people, rewards incompetence, and wastes millions of dollars. Our taxes pay for it all, but our children pay the real price.
We can continue to pont fingers or we can form a consortium of teachers and parents, working together to kick this things a*.
Ever seen a kid play one parent against the other to get their way? Don’t think for a moment that they won’t play teachers against parents and vice-versa. Only by working together will we ever be able to salvage anything that is left of public education in this country. And that my friend may not be worth salvaging at this point.
By V for Vendetta
September 8, 2008 7:05 PM | Link to this
jim d, er, yes and no …
I’m not denying that there aren’t bad teachers out there—heck, I know more than a few—but let us not get caught up in the Oprah-fed hysteria of horrible teachers that slack off and/or sexually prey on each and every student whenever a parent’s back is turned. Please.
The truth is there are no more suspicious teachers now than there were fifty years ago, you just didn’t hear about all of them. The media machine, the same one that puts both presidential candidates under microscopes so fine you can practically read their genetic codes, elevates the rule-breakers, the wash outs, and the degenerates to near mythical status, leaving the rest of us to mop up a profession that should be one of the most important in society. It’s not always fair, and it certainly isn’t always right.
I know you said “many” and not “most” of them “don’t know anything,” but the fact is you’re wrong. I think a great deal of teachers know their subject inside and out, backwards and forwards. I, myself, am finishing up a Master’s degree on the way to a Specialist (and maybe even a Phd if I’m not completely exhausted). They’re all from a “real” university by the way, in case you were wondering.
I absolutely agree with your stance on parents and teachers working side by side to kick the educational aristocracy right in the teeth. I will assist you in your vendetta against Jalvin. You can assist me on my quest to abolish NCLB. Together we are a force to be reckoned with. My only thought is that it’s lamentable we have to beg each other to work together. There was a time when teachers and parents worked together simply because it was the right thing to do.
By Lee
September 8, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this
Should Kindergartners be assessed more?
I don’t know. What are you going to do with the assessment?
Will you use it to ensure that the student is grouped with others of the same ability level in the first grade?
Yeah, right. I didn’t think so.
While we’re reminiscing about the good ole days, remember that way back when, we didn’t have Pre-K, many students didn’t go to Kintergarten, and elementary teachers were not required to have college degrees.
Of course, back then, troublemakers were sent to ‘Reform School’, special ed students were taught in SPECIAL ED class, we had three recesses throughout the day, and yes, the bus picked us up at our driveways.
By Lee
September 8, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this
Should Kindergartners be assessed more?
I don’t know. What are you going to do with the assessment?
Will you use it to ensure that the student is grouped with others of the same ability level in the first grade?
Yeah, right. I didn’t think so.
While we’re reminiscing about the good ole days, remember that way back when, we didn’t have Pre-K, many students didn’t go to Kintergarten, and elementary teachers were not required to have college degrees.
Of course, back then, troublemakers were sent to ‘Reform School’, special ed students were taught in SPECIAL ED class, we had three recesses throughout the day, and yes, the bus picked us up at our driveways.
By Lee
September 8, 2008 7:53 PM | Link to this
Should Kindergartners be assessed more?
I don’t know. What are you going to do with the assessment?
Will you use it to ensure that the student is grouped with others of the same ability level in the first grade?
Yeah, right. I didn’t think so.
While we’re reminiscing about the good ole days, remember that way back when, we didn’t have Pre-K, many students didn’t go to Kintergarten, and elementary teachers were not required to have college degrees.
Of course, back then, troublemakers were sent to ‘Reform School’, special ed students were taught in SPECIAL ED class, we had three recesses throughout the day, and yes, the bus picked us up at our driveways.
By catlady
September 8, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this
jim, did I say parenting? It has to do with the expectations and lack of that our society in general and schools and parents in particular force on children. Benign neglect at the same time expectations are rising leads to a terrible disconnect.
In one class I push into, there are many kids with significant attention and emotinal problems—about 10 out of 15. None get sp ed services. These kids’ problems, unaddressed at home, have already had dire effects on their performance in school. Unaddressed, they will continue to fall behind and their problems will suck up the teacher time to the detriment of their classmates.
By Lisa B.
September 8, 2008 8:45 PM | Link to this
I, too, am a product of half-day kindegarten. However, I grew up in a home with parents who read all the time. I remember watching movies, and the dragging out the encyclopedias afterwards to find out more information about the movie characters such as Jesse James, Caesar, Cleopatra, etc. My parents always read the paper, watched the news and discussed world events at the dinner table. They read us bedtime stories, and listened to us recite math facts and state capitals in the car. I think a lot of parents still do things like that today, but a lot don’t. It is much harder when a parent is trying to everything alone. I also think the schools demand more of students are earlier ages. The 8th graders in my school are taught math I had late in high school. The world is so much more technical now.
By Alecia
September 8, 2008 9:46 PM | Link to this
As a parent I would like to see the assessments put to work and the kids grouped by ability. My daughter is in kindergarten and the teacher is working on letter identification counting to 10, and shape identification. Last year she attended a half day program at a church (not GA pre-K). The preschool’s curriculum was identical to what my daughter will have this year. None of the kids in her class had a hard time meeting the requirements. My daughter started reading last year, at the age of 4. One thing I do not understand is how can a child make it to Kindergarten without knowing the shapes, address, phone number, alphabet, or colors. Did the parents ever talk to their kids? Did they ever turn on PBS? These are basic skills. Most of the baby toys have the alphabet written on them. Of course the 1st grade teacher is having a hard time. There are a lot of steps between letter identification and reading. Have to wonder out of the 7 1/2 hours my child spends at school, how many of them are productive?
By V for Vendetta
September 8, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this
Lee and Alecia,
YES! Kids SHOULD be grouped by ability.
OK, there are three of us who feel this way. Is that enough to start a revolution? We’ve got Europe on our side, they’ve been doing it for years … .
(Sigh). Of course it will never happen. It might hurt some kids feelings or damage someone’s self esteem. I can think of nothing worse. No, wait, I can … .
By linda
September 9, 2008 6:31 AM | Link to this
Ability groupers: I do think that can come back but parents like you will have to be louder than the parents of the kids with learning problems. If not, let me throw out there the idea to abolish the grade level system. Schools don’t use it anyway since 5th graders reading on 2nd grade level has become normal and okay. Not sure why we call them 5th graders. On topic, there is too much assessment for kindergartners as well as other elementary grades. It sounds great on paper, but the reality is that it takes the teacher away from teaching and creating meaningful moments for the students. I DOUBT CLASSROOM TEACHERS LEARN MUCH THEY DON’T ALREADY KNOW FROM THESE ASSESSMENTS. The data is for Admin, who demands this data with good intentions, but the reality is they don’t do much useful with it like use it to advance those who need to be challenged. Supposedly teachers will differentiate, but that is something else that sounds good on paper and continues to let admin off the hook for doing what is right for average and advanced students. They are making this so much more complicated than it has to be!
By jim d
September 9, 2008 7:30 AM | Link to this
C’mon V,
You don’t mean to say that every elementary teacher is well informed and educated in every subject they teach. From experience let me say that is not so. My child had teachers with degrees in math—teaching LA. Teachers with a degree in LA attempting to teach history and teachers with a degree in history—teaching math. He also had some well educated teachers in HS with advanced degrees in the subject matter they were teaching, unfortunately they were not capable of sharing the vast amount of knowledge that they had. Which in my opinion was just as bad or worse than not having the knowledge.
I guess in reality when I said ”i believe because many of them don’t know anything“ I should have said many of them don’t know anything about the subject matter they teach and SOME of those that do are unable to share the knowledge they have. Is that better?
As for a vendetta against Napoalvin? Not really—I’m sure he’s a nice guy (to some folks,) I just don’t like a lot of the crap he hands down to teachers, parents and taxpayers in the name of a “world class education.” I don’t much care for the closed door meetings the GCPS BOE holds to purchase property and I damn sure don’t like the fact that check ledgers are not made readily available to the public. Not to mention my tolerance towards liars and cheats has always been rather thin.
By cj
September 9, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
Once again, jim uses the tired old cliche of “If the kids aren’t learning, the teachers aren’t teaching.” Maybe that’s because sometimes the students can’t or don’t want to learn. Let me give you an example that happened to me yesterday. I teach 2nd grade. I have a student that came to me from another county, and four days into school I knew he couldn’t read (except for and, the, a). When I called mom, she told me he had been getting no extra help at his school. His records said he had gotten C’s last year. (Curious, right?) Well, since I have one special-ed and 6 EIP kids in my room, I have a push-in teacher during Math. I had her pull 4 students (including my little friend) back to a table to work with them four on one with a hands on math lesson. He could not even function in that environment. Now, I have a class of 21. Am I supposed to work with him one on one and ignore the other 20 kids? How exactly do you deal with that kind of student? I’m trying all of the techniques that the experts say should work, yet this child has not been taught at home that school is important. He spends his time in class pretending he’s in the middle of a video game, complete with sounds. I’m not saying parents should have to teach their children subject matter, but teaching them manners, respect, and how to sit for longer than 2 minutes should be taught at home. I’ve taught my own children that (and we’re still working on it!). Why do so many parents insist that schools do it all?
By barb
September 9, 2008 7:50 PM | Link to this
First, we can’t go back to the way things were so we have to make sense of the way things are. Yep, it would be great for parents to be involved at a much deeper level. Some are and some aren’t and we can’t control that. Kids come to school with all kinds of experiences- crime, hunger, homelessness, excess, two parents, no parents,gifted and challenged, and again we can’t control that. What we have to do is the best we can with what we have and hope that we can make a difference.Even if it’s just one child at least it’s one more than if they weren’t in the classroom of a teacher who cares. I work with preschoolers. I’ve been a teacher, a center director, a literacy specialist and currently a literacy coach for the preschool set. I see the same things you see in K-12 just a couple of years sooner. We have the same problems and concerns with the children. I don’t think there is a simple answer to the problem of education as a whole in this country.