This parent prefers to remain anonymous. But so many of us
parents share her concerns about how the DOE’s obsession with testing threatens
to undermine our children’s confidence and spirit.
My 5 year old boy attends kindergarten in a high performing school
in a high performing district, and it is destroying him. He's such a happy
child and in some ways, wise beyond his years. Applying basic skills, concepts
and scientific discoveries to everyday life is easy for him and he can dissect
numbers and do calculations in his head without hesitation.
Yet he comes home from school saying he's "stupid", a
"loser" and is in " big trouble" because he can't read.
This beautiful little boy struggles blending sounds to read words. He knows the
letter sounds but reading the words is beyond his grasp right now. Read him a
story, a long one with complex characters, and he will answer any question you
have and he will tell you how something in his life relates to the story. He's
a smart little boy who thinks he is stupid because his classmates know he
cannot read and they tell him so. And he knows the pressure is on - he'll tell
you he's a level "C" or a beginning level "D" but must be
at least a beginning level "E" before first grade...his
teacher told him so!
Maybe there are no high-stakes tests in kindergarten but there are
"TASKS". Students are asked to read a nonfiction book (about trees)
and write a book about the book in 25 minutes. Their written book was supposed
to consist of a number of pages, with a sentence or two on each page about a
picture that they drew. For the math task, they had to write and draw all
the ways to form a number (8: 4+4, 5+3, 6+2 etc). And there was an observer in the
classroom to make sure the tasks were administered correctly!
This absolutely wonderful, innocent little boy is being abused.
Every day, when I pick him up at school, I have to pick up the pieces and make
him whole. At parent-teacher conferences, no one ever said to me that he's
young, he'll catch up. (BTW he was 11 weeks premature). Instead, I was
just told to read more with him.
I know it's important to read, write and do math, but there is
plenty of time for all that. Meanwhile, there are so many other skills that he
needs, and so much else to explore and experience. He should be finger
painting, playing in centers and navigating his way around the playground. I
refuse to push him at home - he will be playing dinosaur hunter, building Lego cities and going to the park with me. My little boy
is a precious gift from God - the DOE will not break his spirit!
I have heard that the DOE is commissioning
new standardized tests beginning in preK, and I fear the obsession with testing
our youngest children is just getting worse. When will it stop? And what
can we do to protect our children from this sort of abuse?
