Testing in Kindergarten: The Realities and the Dangers

Standardized testing in kindergarten. Perhaps unimaginable, but it is happening in some states. And for many educators and parents, this reality is cause for great concern.
"There is clear evidence that these types of tests are not appropriate for young children," says Samuel Meisels, expert in childhood assessment and president of the Erikson Institute, a graduate school for child development, in Chicago. "In the first eight years of life, there's a great deal of variability in how kids learn, and standardized tests tend to see children in a very homogeneous way," Meisels says.