Mississippi seems to be following the advice of Arne Duncan and theCommon Core: Make school harder!
In this Hechinger Report article by Kayleigh Skinner and Chris Kieffer, we learn that kindergarten kids will be “expected to write sentences, know most letters of the alphabet and recognize and write the first 10 numerals” by October. Yet two months since the school year began, 29 percent of the 298 kindergarten students at Neshoba Central have missed at least one day. Eight have missed five days or more….”
“The absences are leading to both academic and financial consequences in a state where students already lag behind their peers throughout the country, consistently posting some of the lowest test scores in the U.S.
“The absences are also leading to students falling behind just as they start their education. One in 14 Mississippi kindergarten students had to repeat their grade in 2008 because they weren’t prepared to move on, according to the Southern Education Foundation.
“It essentially creates a double obstacle,” said Steve Suitts, Southern Education Foundation vice president, noting that the state’s pre-k offerings are meager. “It means that kids who don’t get to kindergarten will be even further behind than the kids who have been.”
“State educators worry that even more will be left behind now that schools are using the Common Core curriculum that expects kindergarteners to know how to count to 100, write the numerals to 20 and write sentences by the end of the year.”
Absenteeism leads to lost instructional time and less state aid. Failure in kindergarten leads to failure in first grade. Failure in first grade leads to failure in every subsequent grade.
Have we lost our minds?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
My granddaughter, who is just beginning to read in first grade, was assigned a research project requiring 3 sources – use of the internet OK. How does this make any sense???
If a plumber responded to a clogged toilet by jamming more filth into the mess, we would think he was insane.
Having grown up in the 60’s and 70’s was for me the “Golden Age” of school and education. Today, not so. And so much for social skills and socialization and learning to be a child and having fun. I guess these folks had a miserable time in school and growing up, and now they want to make others suffer. Pity the fools. Just another confederacy of dunces.
Every time I read that article and hear about the meat grinder Kindergarten environment created by the CorpReformsters, it makes me physically ill.
Mississippi Kindergartens are the wave of the U.S. future of education, especially, Early Education.
Why would any parent enroll their children in such pressure cookers. These little ones are developing coping mechanisms serving them the rest of their lives. Off to the worst start imaginable.
Mr. Rogers, Montessouri, Piaget & many others are turning in their graves.
If we continue to watch this unfold, allow it to spread and harm our children, while just mumbling about it, we should be a shamed.
“…kindergarten kids will be “expected to write sentences, know most letters of the alphabet….”
I’m not even an educator and I can tell that’s a little backward. Shouldn’t kids know their letters *before* they are expected to write sentences?
But I do have to quibble with this in a way: “It means that kids who don’t get to kindergarten will be even further behind than the kids who have been.” Teaching kids stuff earlier than they are prepared to understand and use it doesn’t necessarily put them ahead of kids who don’t learn it early.
An example I heard in a seminar from a play-based preschool proponent: Many elementary schools have kids line up in two lines, boys in one line and girls the other, to travel around the school. When it’s time to go to the drinking fountain, kids from each line alternate, so one girl gets a drink, one boy, the next girl, etc. Because this is the system used in elementary schools, a lot of preschools thought it would be a good idea to prepare the kids for it, so they started trying to line up the kids by gender and getting them to alternate between the two lines at the drinking fountain. Well, if you know what three-year-olds are like, you know this can be a bit like herding cats. It can be taught, but it takes weeks or months of daily practice and there’s a lot of physically putting kids where they’re supposed to be. But they do eventually get it. So now, what happens to the poor unlucky kid who never went to pre-school and never learned this drinking fountain ritual? What happens on his first day? Does he collapse in a panic, unable to learn this vital skill? Is he doomed to be socially dysfunctional for life? Well, obviously, no. He observes what the other kids are doing, or, at most, a teacher takes him aside and explains it, and he’s learned in a minute what it took those pre-school kids a month to learn.
From all the research I’ve read, there’s very little to suggest that teaching kids things like reading or math earlier than they are ready for it puts them ahead in the long run. They may learn it earlier, but by second or third grade, whatever advantage they once had washes out. And, if anything, there is a risk of making them hate reading or math because they learned it at a time when it was “hard” rather than waiting until they were naturally ready to do it. I do understand the pressure of being behind one’s peers, but I don’t really believe that those peers continue to outpace their less-advantaged peers overtime.
You’d think people obsessed with “efficiency” would favor teaching concepts when kids can absorb them easily rather than when they take weeks of drill and repetition to register at the the most shallow level. Why don’t they see what you see?
You’d think! As the parent of a kindergartener, this is making me so crazy!
You’d think! As the parent of a kindergartener, this is making me so crazy!
The research also indicates that waiting until the brain is more fully developed — when the corpus callosum is most effectively sending info between right and left hemispheres (looks like: fine motor skills and eye tracking is firm) — the concepts are most easily comprehended and securely retained for future learning.
Additionally, the students who learn at the developmentally appropriate time are SIGNIFICANTLY less likely to be at risk for burnout in the middle school years, when the test scores begin to decline and when self-perception is incredibly fragile. Of course the lack of interest in reading is also an issue but the social implications are of the greatest concern to me.
Between the level of stress and learned helplessness that typically results from this level of intensity of micromanagement (and for this length of time) we will see a generation that is ill-equipt for active participation in democratic citizenship.
Putting a cloud over the children’s ability to think critically and have courage to fight for the downtrodden is an infinitely more effective and “transparent” strategy than, say, using proof of property ownership, poll taxes, jim crow laws, gerrymandering, and voter ID laws. These negative soft skills being taught will become manifest in the next generation in the worst way possible.
“One in 14 Mississippi kindergarten students had to repeat their grade in 2008. . . ”
What a stupid effin educational malpractice. Who the hell comes up with that kind of crap for 5 year olds (or any age for that matter)? Let’s make sure we reinforce that those kids are FAILURES and aren’t worth the money we spend on them.
Child abuse pure and simple!
The billionaire funded, corporate driven, fake education reform movement with President Obama’s support and Arne Duncan as the Gestapo chief in charge will still rank and yank teachers and close public schools in spite of the increased absences among these students.
Teachers will be blamed for that too.
“Kinder-gatin’ ”
They haven’t lost their mind
They never even had it
The kinder-gatin’ kind
Have college-preppin’ habit
If we opened up Bill Gates’ skull, we would discover not a human brain but a computer chip running on empty.
Well, in the trenches, I know that some kids can write a single or multiple related sentences by the end of the school year, and some can not. Some kids come to kindergarten knowing all letters and sounds, and some come in not knowing the difference between the front and the back of the book. The absurdity of statements like these are befuddling. Doesn’t anyone acknowledge the fine work of the High Scope Foundation, the NAEYC, Bank Street, Creative Curriculum, or research about early brain development, and appropriate assessments? The answer seems abundantly clear: NO, never even thought of seeking the advice of a reputable source, and might I dare say it, early childhood expert.
Common Core = Core Dump of Bill Gates’ brain.
Anyone who has ever had their computer crash and fill up the screen with gibberish knows what that means.
Microsoft software causes lots of core dumps, not surprisingly.
Sorry, should be in response to LLoyd above
Exactly. Where are the Early Childhood Education experts? And even a non-expert should know that teaching kids is very different from engineering them.
This is beyond crazy. It is like the Salem witch hunts.
To paraphrase Lewis Black “I took acid when I was young just to prepare myself for times like now.”
Student readiness to learn varies among children, ask any K-3 teacher. Finland has very high scores on world wide tests-possibly the highest. Yet, no child starts formal academics in the country until the age of 7! In Finland, school is supposed to be fun, but challenging, so much emphasis in their pre-school is related to play, but have personal responsibility in everything that is done in school, home, or in the community.
In comparison, the state of Mississippi school students score near the bottom in any comparative evaluation including the NAEP, our national report card,the SAT and ACT tests, and high school graduation rates.. Obviously based upon the two comparisons, Finland and Mississippi , which of the two models for early education models is better based upon any type of evaluation completed.
However, since their seems no effective educational leadership in Mississippi, based upon the critical thinking based upon data collection, analysis, and other research, the direction the state is moving in K-12 reflects their incompetence and very understandable.
Sincerely, Eric Kangas, a retired teacher and independent researcher of 40 years. If support information on these comments is wanted, contact me at ekangas@juno.com
Following the announcement of a deal between Pearson and Microsoft, to develop Common Core curriculum, has the IRS reviewed the potential for personal gain conflict, if the Gates Foundation used the tax advantaged 501(c)(1) provision?
I worry about long lasting damage to children who are failing in these programs. They are classified as developmentally delayed but are in actuality normal children. Most children have significant drops in self esteem and confidence when they first enter school. Imagine how a child must feel when they are developing in different ways than as prescribed by our current practices. These children often pull within themselves or act out in anger. Some begin to believe they are not capable and stop trying, they tell themselves that they will never do well and give up.
There are wide differences in a normally developing child in this age group. But in this group perhaps the most marked difference appears between children born in August and September. They must compete on an uneven playing field. Family size and a child’s placement with in their family unit. Whether a child has dealt with a family tragedy or disunion can cause developmental differences. Personal illnesses and disabilities play a role. Poverty plays a role. No child should be denied placement in a program due to these differences and no child or parent needs to be blamed or shamed for these normal differences.
Children do not have the ability to discern these differences in development. They only see that they somehow don’t measure up.
Yes, we have lost our minds or at least Arnie has!
Did Arne have a mind of his own to lose in the first place. I think he sold his mind to the highest bidder long before taking over the DOE.
I retired as a 4th grade teacher. I am now, two years later subbing. I have subbed in kindergarten several times. It is exhausting, even though not content deep. Others don’t really enjoy subbing in K-1 because of the fact that the students are so needy. Bathroom, shoes, zippers, fine motor issues, speech issues, attention issues, group behavior issues, etc. But as we approach the end of October, I really don’t see these kids writing complete sentences! Most of them can’t write many words. Some are coming along with “me, it, mom, dad,…”. As a sub, I am instructed not to spell any word for them. So we use the sounds from Phonics Dance to stretch out sounds to make words. I tell them to look around the room for words the might recognize in a poem or other place. But they are not writing sentences. I have trouble wrapping my head around the idea that letting them misspell words will lead to true understanding of spelling. They often want to write “house” but they have not learned “ou” yet. They don’t know “silent e”. So they spell ” hos” not “house”. You get the idea.
In math, they are learning the numbers 1-12 at this time. The teachers have done one-on-one assessments of what the kids are to know by the first quarter. Cards go home on Halloween (good choice).
A typical day is: attendance, pledge, calendar time (Months of the year song, days of the week song, Phonics Dance, weather, yesterday, today, tomorrow, days until ???, date, days in school, tens/ones), read aloud, writing workshop, cut and paste activity, math number practice with dice, etc. Then it is time to pack up. Half day kg.
I do see a difference in their knowledge in the past 5 weeks. There is growth. Concepts are being learned.
BUT, the kids that struggle, continue to struggle. They are unable to listen, follow directions, glue, cut, write letters correctly, etc. And, they do get further behind. So these techniques are not an answer for everyone.
Nothing beats having had interested and involved parents …from birth onward. Parents need to realize their children are or aren’t on an appropriate developmental learning path.
“One in 14 Mississippi kindergarten students had to repeat their grade in 2008 because they weren’t prepared to move on, according to the Southern Education Foundation…”
“State educators worry that even more will be left behind now that schools are using the Common Core curriculum that expects kindergarteners to know how to count to 100, write the numerals to 20 and write sentences by the end of the year.” Add to that the CC reading standards and curriculum.
Where are our problem solvers? Educators know that Common Core makes unrealistic demands. The CCStandards for their reading program are flawed and those Standards are being pushed down to the kindergarten level. Researchers know that retention is harmful. We know that waiting until children are developmentally ready for activities will be more assurance of children succeeding. Yet, people in power are indifferent to the welfare of our children. The account of kindergartners retained in Mississippi because they can’t meet the inappropriate standards saddens me. I ache for the children who are mentally and emotionally abused. Just this week we heard about the five year old girl that was whipped to death because she soiled her pants. People in power are just as cruel when whipping to death children’s self- image by forcing tasks upon them that they are not ready for and then punishing them with retention for not succeeding. It is like pouring salt down their throats.
A few years ago a Harvard Newsletter listed numerous studies that revealed that retention is harmful – like a death of a parent one researcher stated. If a child is not mentally challenged, then he/she will learn how to read in due time if it is taught appropriately. Marie Clay’s approach to teaching reading to emergent readers has been proven successful. Marie Clay with her Reading Recovery, believed in giving all the support a child needs so he/she would not make a mistake. She utilized reasoning skills along with utilizing all the senses. A happy environment, freedom to explore, confidence, a feeling of success, a challenge that can be met, hands on, and modeling were all very important to Marie Clay. Common Core is indifferent to the affective realm, to the child’s feelings, and has caused the Common Core Syndrome – child abuse. RR provides one-to-one tutoring, five days per week, 30 min. a day. The teacher begins instruction using the child’s words. RR is supplemental to classroom instruction and lasts an average of 12-20 weeks. A child is discontinued when he/she manifests evidence of being able to use unprompted strategies to read increasingly difficult text and independently write their own messages. Some people say the Reading Recovery program is too expensive. For crying out loud stop the high stakes testing and use that money to provide appropriate instruction.
Reid Lyon’s approach is flawed – some children including adults can not learn via phonics. How can children in Mississippi learn via phonics? Do children from regions with heavy accents and various dialects have to learn via the unspoken language like the Chinese way and then translate text into their vernacular? We are compounding their task. Children have an unnecessary challenge in trying to learn through phonics – trying to decode words via Standard English and then translate into their accent or dialect language. It is like learning another language – Standard English in lieu of what they speak. Contrived and meaningless sentences compound the task. There is a single spelling across dialects that pronounce words very differently. The pretense that learning to read is anchored in a single set of phonics rules is not only confusing, it damages children’s chances for school success.
Just yesterday my grandson in kindergarten said under his breath when he was with his grandfather at the library, “I don’t like kindergarten.” His grandfather asked him to repeat what he said and he quickly responded, “I like kindergarten.” My grandson knows that he is expected to like kindergarten. His teachers are fantastic but they have no control over the curriculum handed to them.
My grandson reads titles and is interested to a point; he asks what some words are and what they mean; but he is not interested in mundane sight vocabulary adults impose on him. He is not committed to learning to read meaningless sentences that the teacher sends home. My grandson is not interested in reading run off black and white photo/zerox copies of booklets with contrived sentences. The stories that the parents are requested to have their children practice “barking at words” is of no interest to my grandson. It is taking away time he wants to do interesting activities: build with legos, play with trains, tell his own story as he draws…He has no interest in writing with a pencil – too much effort has to be exerted to control it. He loves to be challenged – but with a challenge he can meet with success such as building with legos. He loves the challenge of following directions and putting sets together by himself – sets geared for 6 to 12 year olds. He has an uncanny ability to find pieces and places them where they are suppose to go. If his grandfather wants to help him he pushes his hand away. He has great confidence, “I can build anything.” It is that confidence that we must build up in children if we want them to succeed to reach out to learn more. Among other things that captured his imagination was planting seeds. He wants to plant seeds and watch plants grow. He saved his apple seeds thinking he could plant them now in the harvest time of year.
Why doesn’t he want to read those booklets placed in that shoebox? (Oh the time, energy, money, and paper wasted!) What I have observed so far about those contrived stories bought home is that each story revolves around a sight word or a math sentence. Another grandson, also in kindergarten, is expected to read via the computer each night- all non fiction but that could be of his choice. He has a totally different personality, interest, and abilities. He reads on level I (the I after H) of the Raz program but all non fiction for a five year old?! He read before he entered kindergarten; he has an uncanny ability to intuit words.
For children who have no books at home, run off books are better than nothing and reading ebooks are a good substitute- if there is a computer in the home. The booklets, however, should be meaningful – stories the children dictate. Pre-k and now in kindergarten wastes so much valuable time in trying to get the children to memorize the alphabet and sight words. The songs my grandson comes home with are songs that adapt a well known melody to spelling a sight word. The children can’t escape boring, meaningless activities. There is no need to memorize sight words -syntax and familiar context along with the initial letter make the sight vocabulary words easy to predict. The alphabet and sight words learned over time via intriguing stories, stories that tickle the funny bone, rhymes, poems, and shared writing stories are far more easy to remember.
My grandson knows that real stories worth his time, are encased in hard bound delightfully illustrated pages- stories he can talk about and that stir his imagination. The kindergarten curriculum today doesn’t appear to work at developing the imagination and curiosity. Albert Einstein maintained, ” Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Margaret Mead purported that “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
Basic for John Dewey was developing critical thinkers by starting with the child in relationship to the curriculum and ending with the child – applying information to the child and to his/her environment. The child comes with experiences and interacts with the environment. Through interaction adjustments are made and learning takes place. Learning isn’t the mind taking a picture and then reproducing it. It’s not a mechanical process e.g. when children memorize – give right answers.
Information and knowledge are on the lower range of Bloom’s taxonomy. John Dewey maintained that the imagination is the greatest. “Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.” Dewey maintained, “Information severed from thoughtful action is dead, a mind-crushing load.” Yet Common Core ignores the importance of the imagination.
When will state educators ever learn? The Common Core standards have to be thrown out and we either resort back to what we had or start from scratch with the child in mind and not money. “Time” magazine hasn’t a clue what teaching is about. Why doesn’t it write about the harm the CC is causing; how it squelches teachers’ sensitivity and creativity and forces them to act against their conscience.
Well written and carefully thought out. Thank you for your insight into this problem
There is an ultimate logistics problem, not to ignore the horrendous humanity & societal harm – retaining hundreds & thousands of children who are labeled at-risk and retained, attending summer schools, tutored, and counseled in Kindergarten/1st grades…will ultimately create larger retained school populations in elem.schools, more teachers needed, more testing, more charters, more books, more technology, more $M spent on CCSS, an entire REMEDIAL INDUSTRY, etc., etc. THE CorpProfiteers can hardly wait. Add to that the entire PreK Industry about to hit the U.S. scene…Katchink$!
Sick!
Mississippi also just tested all of its current kindergarten students for readiness and found that only one out of three is prepared to achieve on this curriculum. As another poster noted, kindergarten is optional here and the students who are not enrolled are likely to be even less ready. I imagine that there is a team somewhere trying to invent a way to hold schools responsible for the lack of preparation during the years over which they had no control.
Also not mentioned was our new third grade reading gate. All students who test below a set point will be retained in third grade.