Too much too soon: Is Georgia over-testing its youngest students?

The performance of Georgia public school students on state exams this year reveals incremental progress and no real surprises.

However, there were a few disappointments including the scores of students in the lower grades on the Georgia Milestones, which are rekindling concerns by teachers and parents that the overhaul of state standards set unrealistic goals for young learners. Teachers and parents have complained the standards expect children in younger grades to master developmentally inappropriate content.

As one said, “Not only are test passages’ reading level frequently years about the grade of the child being tested, and the material beyond the ability of many that age to be properly grasped, but the functionality of the test itself (computers, typing, calculators, etc) is above what they can do. Not to mention that sitting for that many hours is also beyond what they should be able to do behaviorally.”