In Florida, as we learn from the comment below, it is never too soon to get tough. It’s never too soon to give tests and hand out grades. Even five-year-olds need to know that someone (the State Education Department? the Legislature? Jeb Bush? ) has high expectations for them! It’s never too soon for them to learn the Great Lesson: Perform on our tests or you are marked a failure. The treadmill starts here.
Must be part of that big Pearson contract with the state.
A reader reacts to an earlier post about whether it is right to give 2-3 assessments to kindergarten children:
In Clay County FL, we give NINE assessments to the kindergarteners. The math assessment will have 25 questions on it and be given one-on-one. The assessments include reading (FAIR), Performance Matters Math and Science. Our kinders are now being given grades weekly E, V, S, N, U.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Someone just posted a link on another thread from today that led me to this. All concerened parents shoud make contact as soon as possible:
Afraid to opt out of testing?
by CONNY JENSEN on MARCH 13, 2012 · 4 COMMENTS
“Coercion has no place in a democratic society, least of all in school where it flies in the face of everything that quality education should stand for!”
Parents, have you or your child been threatened, punished, or coerced by school administrators and/or teachers for opting your child out of high-stakes standardized state testing? If so, please share your details with Nina Bishop who’s preparing to file a joint ACLU complaint.
Send your account along with signed permission to be included in the complaint, by snail mail to:
Nina Bishop
3065 Windward Way,
Colorado Springs,
CO 80917
Questions? Call 719-233-1508
http://www.buildbetterschools.com/?p=1449
—————————
I’m afraid to ask. Have we lost our minds? (I read the WI screening/assessment post earlier.) Are we the only nation in the world that administers tests to a 5 year-old and then grades them? This is just profoundly wrong. I see the biggest growth industries in the future to be psychometrics, pharmaceutical, mental health, and test publishing. I would hate to be a kid or a parent at this stage in history. Restore sanity. Someone. Now. Please!
My daughter will be starting kindergarten in a few days. Does anyone know if this is the case in NJ? I do not want her subjected to this sort of obsessive “assessing”. I considered a few of the more democratic progressive schools in the area but they are $20,000+ a year, so that is not an option. I have not other alternative and I am afraid…
Okaikor,
Go to the school and ask. Tell them you need to know specific times, dates, what types of tests, etc. . . . Do not let them bamboozle you into thinking that “it’s all right-no harm done”. Stand up for you child! Do not allow them to “test” your daughter.without your specific consent as to the test and its content. Have a letter written to had to the principal that says exactly that and that if they do “test” your child without your permission there will be legal courses of action that you will pursue. Be a “pain in the ass parent”.
“I considered a few of the more democratic progressive schools in the area but they are $20,000+ a year” Ahhh, the best of “privatized” education.
Duane
Thank you Duane. I will do that.
I have been back in school for 8 days now. Within the first 4 days the calls for ongoing assessment began to hit the email inbox. My first graders have already been assessed twice for reading and will be subject to another assessment (FAIR — Florida’s elementary reading diagnostic which can take anywhere from 30 – 90 minutes per child) next week. Soon after that the computerized assessments and placement list will be due.
The first week of school we spent a great deal of time building community, exploring the classroom and school grounds, learning about each other, building trust and learning to work independently. The assessment process is egregious to me but I have no choice so I try to make it as painless as possible. I tell the children that they are going to be my teachers and show me what I need to learn about them so I can be a better teacher for them. The onus is all on me. Most of them accept this and don’t worry about the process.
Sadly, some come to me from Kindergarten already shellshocked from being assessed incessantly and the English language learners and special education students are especially wary of being asked to complete tasks that they simply cannot do yet. I see the haunted look in their eyes when they are called over to participate in yet another assessment that is designed to highlight their weaknesses and gaps of knowledge so we can have lots and lots of data points. I reassure them and make light of the situation to the best of my ability.
Contrast this with the excitement my children felt when I brought in a large yellow grasshopper for us to observe and sketch in our Naturalist Journals. Or the excitement of 5 children who told me quite seriously on Day 1 “I can’t read” but who are now able to read simple, predictable texts proudly to me, their families, and their peers and proclaim loudly “I can read now!”. Or the anticipation and excitement over the classroom goldfish that will debut next week and the serious focus on read aloud books, poems, songs, and finger plays. They came to me not knowing the full alphabet, many unable to write their own names or count to 20 but I can and will lead them into literacy and numeracy and scientific investigation without any ridiculous assessments and data point collecting and endless data meetings.
If any reformers really wanted to help me and my kids they could donate some non-perishable food for the children who do not eat from one school lunch to the next, crying and complaining of headaches from hunger every morning. I keep snacks on hand at all times and it gets expensive. Or they could buy me new books for my classroom library. The kids absolutely devour books and I have spent hundreds of my own dollars on books because there is no money in our district budget for such extras. Another big help would be working for equal access to healthcare, jobs that pay a decent wage and allow for life happening without fear of being fired for their parents, and support for community and families through civic action and fully-funded schools so that we don’t have to undergo a reduction in force as indicated to us last week.
I know that I am spitting in the wind but I’m trying hard to maintain my integrity and professionalism and protect the kids the best way I know how.
You are a truly wonderful teacher! Please continue to work your magic in the classroom, despite all the madness.
If you need things for your classroom, food, etc., find your local retired teachers’ association (contact a retired teacher to locate)–they may be able to help. Ours–in IL–provides classroom scholarships to teachers such as yourself, in addition to holding food and school supply drives.
Good luck, and thank you for all the caring, hard work you do.
Don’t you love the eyes that shine? It is so ridiculously insane as to what you and your students are subject to from day one. I know you will do everything you can to keep those eyes shining.
I know about the food thing. I always kept snacks; plus we saved extra cereal from free breakfast that was not eaten. The year before I went to a high school my future paraprofessional rounded up extra free lunches for a boy who was homeless. He is now a police officer in Atlanta and became a “Most Improved” by the time he graduated. Got a trip to Colorado from the Carter Center for that. Like to think the food helped. I also kept hygiene supplies including sanitary pads as well as deodorant, soap, washcloths and towels so that any of our kids who came in funky soon weren’t. The younger ones also had a change of clothing and we kept donated clothes in our special ed. classrooms for any child who needed them and washed their in our washing machines (standard equipment in most classes with moderate or severe/profound units in Georgia.) And kids in Atlanta who were suspended often snuck back in at lunch time and ate with their classes because suspension meant starvation. Teachers looked the other way.
You might be able to find a grant to pay for food if you write it up as a nutrition unit. Also, remember that it is against federal law to deprive a special education child of school meals so if they act up and anyone tries to use that as discipline, you can intervene. I think it also applies to 504s.
I am very surprised that more people do not know this testing of 5 year olds is widespread and has been going on for some time.
In Seattle, all elementary students are given the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test 2-3 times a year. Kindergarten is the ONLY grade required to give all 3 assessments. In September, they go up to the computer lab for the reading test for an hour. Then they go back later for part two of the reading test. They go again for the math test. And of course there is then the second part of the math test. This is just September. They go through the same exact thing again in Dec/Jan and again in April. Kindergartners, 12 hours of testing on a computer. This has been going on for several years. Then there are of course the individualized tests most teachers give them. And CCSS tests are just around the corner.
What really gets me about all of this is the level of acceptance, the thinking that this is ok, or in some way, normal. I am astounded that parents have not organized and demanded an end to the insanity.
Mark— our K’s were not tested in September with MAP. It was the teacher’s choice. This year we haven’t decided what to do. We will wait and observe the kids.
I’m glad to see you on here, Mark. I just learned you had retired. Good for you! Jennifer Hall
I wonder what support the Kindergarten teacher in Florida receives to jump through all these hoops. Are class sizes limited to twenty? Is there a full-time aide in the classroom? Do students have access to Music classes, the Library, and play time?
If these supports are not in place, and academic pressures continue to rise, then we are taking children who may already be stressed because of poverty and changes in the family, and we are squeezing them like squeezing a bottle of ketchup in a vise. Something’s gotta give, and too often it is the emotional well-being of the child.
Bottle of Ketchup. That reminds me of when Reagan tried to make Ketchup a vegetable in the free school lunch program. I think the Teapartiers tried to do it again last year because of the new program to include more vegetables in school lunches.
Does anyone else find it rather “strange” that a member of the Bush family is pushing on hard line education for five year olds? Is this some sort of psychotic response to living within his family and watching what his brother has unleashed on America? Does he think this will save future generations from another 12 year war president?
I am in Florida and in my classroom I have 18 kindergarteners. I do not have an aide but we do have 30 minutes of either PE, music, technology, or library each day. We ‘technically’ do not have play time. A law was passed several years ago mandating 30 minutes of structured physical education each day so no more recess. Florida adopted the Common Core State Standards and my kindergarteners from last year will be the first group of students not to take the FCAT but PARCC in third grade. My understanding is that it will be a timed assessment on the computer with multiple choice and short answer questions. My question is will Pearson and FL DOE allow for more time when the third grader is having trouble typing their answers and cannot find the letter D on the keyboard??? While districts across the state and the Florida School Boards Association has adopted a resolution to end high-stakes testing when will we see the result of adopting the resolution? Florida is currently on the hunt for a new Education Commissioner. We fear who it may be- Patricia Levesque? Jeb Bush?
You might be able to get 504 accommodations for kids who are having trouble with timed tests or with typing. Also put colored stickers on the letters they will need for multiple choice answers. That can go in the 504 plan so you can use it. Ask you student support team or, if you don’t have one, your Special Ed. lead teacher for help. I don’t know what business a 3rd grader has typing actual answers in the first place. Single letters, ok. But not short answers. Again, a 504 plan can allow for him to dictate the answers. It is all in how you write it.
With much sadness I have read all of the comments.
To Florida Teacher, write proposals to DonorsChoose.org It is an amazing not for profit organization that was started 10 years ago by a NYC high school teacher. You must be in a public and/or charter school and can write only for your class. You must be a teacher. No administrators need apply. Teachers tell their stories and ask for what they need. Donors read the stories on the web site and make donations to a particular teacher. When it’s funded Donorschoose orders the materials and sends them to the teacher. The teacher writes thank you notes. No money between the teacher and the donor change hands. DC acts as the middleman.
I don’t know where I would be without them. I have received 45 grants that range from televisions to construction paper. It is a national organization.
Back to the assessments. Pre-K is not far behind K in overtesting our kids and making them feel like failures within the first week of school.
I don’t believe that the public is as “in the know” as we might think.
I teach teaching assistants in day care centers in the evening for a local college and I am amazed at how few of these women know what’s going on in education. One this summer borrowed my signed copy of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System” and shared with the rest of the class that everyone had to read this book. She had no clue prior to my class. Today in preparation for Tuesday when the NYC schools open their doors for the coming school year I had a manicure. The place was busy and women chat. Many of them were talking about their children going back to school. I shared with a few of them the disaster that is happening, not just in NYC but the entire country. They, too, were shocked. One woman had a child going into K at a local public school. She was not happy to hear of all the assessments that go on. I suggested she read Diane’s book. I should make little flyers for wherever I go.
My own children think I’m weird. To me, that’s a good thing.
My younger daughter who is a 17 year veteran of the NYC schools teaching 3rd and 4th grade is moving to K this year and is appalled at what she is seeing. She said she didn’t realize all this time what I was complaining about. She is now another voice.
If each of us speaks to anyone who will listen and ask them to write to local officials and refuse to have their child tested and make a fuss, things will change.
At least I hope so.
Thank you for sharing Diane’s book and ideas with others. Some of us still in the system are afraid to share loudly, because of potential repercussions.
The world has gone insane.
FIRE DUNCAN! Hire Ravitch!
Yes! That is the one bone I have to pick with the Obama administration. They did not make a teacher the Secretary of Education. Maybe Diane could get to Michelle and she could influence her husband if Diane could get an appointment with her.
Boo hoo. Florida kids have it easy compared to NYC fetuses #satire by Students Last http://goo.gl/xUbfT