While most recently raised by the PBS special Cat Wise: “Are toddlers missing out on the brain-boosting benefits of playtime?” This question of the day has already been asked and answered several times. The problem is that the establishment continues to ignore the evidence, turning our kindergartens into the new first grade.
Just take a look:
To analyze data from the US Department of Education’s Longitudinal Study of Early Childhood from 1998-99 and 2010-11, researchers at the University of Virginia asked approximately 2,500 public school kindergarten teachers detailed questions. 1998, some time before the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted. –and about 2,700 in 2010.
Researchers Daphna Bassok, Scott Latham, and Anna Rowen used the responses of these teachers to compare kindergarten classrooms in 1998 and 2010. To the extent possible, they also compared the responses of the 2010 teachers with those of the first grade teachers. degree in 1999.
Here is a sample of what was discovered:
- Teachers in 2010 are 33% more likely than their colleagues in 1998 to believe that academic instruction should start before kindergarten, and that children should know the alphabet and how to use a pencil before they start kindergarten than those of 1998.
- In 2010, 80% of teachers said children should learn to read in kindergarten vs. only 31% of teachers believed that in 1998.
- In 2010, 73% of kindergarten children took some type of standardized test; 1/3 of them took them at least once a month.
- During those 12 years, daily music instruction decreased by 18 percentage points and daily art instruction decreased by 16%.
- From 1998 to 2010, the number of teachers who spent at least one hour a day in child-selected activities dropped by 14%, and classrooms with discovery or play areas, such as a sand table, science, and/or art area, were reduced. by 20%.
- Reading and math instruction through textbooks increased 15% between 1998 and 2010.
- In 2010, teachers were 22% more likely to say that assessing students against state and local standards was very important or essential. In 1998, teachers were not asked how often such assessments were used to track student progress.
Bassock said: “We were surprised to see how drastic the changes have been in a short period of time. We expected to see changes in some of these dimensions, but not as systematically or to this magnitude.”
Their conclusion: “These changes are likely to have important implications for children’s learning trajectories.”
Oh yeah, and also know that while these findings represent a national trend, they apply even more to schools that primarily serve low-income and minority children.
Writing “Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Kids Need to Play at School” for the Alliance for Childhood, Edward Miller and Joan Almon found that through play, children “learn the powerful lesson of pursuing their own ideas.” to a successful conclusion.” They also “have higher language skills than non-players”, as well as:
- Better social skills
- more empathy
- more imagination
- More than the subtle ability to know what others mean
- They are less aggressive
- Show more self-control
- Higher levels of thought.
However, the US Secretary of Education, John B. King, Jr., and other so-called reformers continue to insist on the use of prescriptive lessons that reflect the Common Core and related state standards, along with their aligned standardized assessments. , which are then administered to even our youngest students.
One result: Not only are second and third grade teachers now reporting that their positions are already exhausted, but teachers around the world are being asked to teach empathy and character.
Many call this progress. You too?