Developmentally Appropriate Learning Standards: An Oxymoron?

As promised in my last blog, here's a little more food for thought about Standards and young children.  Are learning standards and developmentally appropriate practice inherently incompatible? The gold standard bearers at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) say, "NO!" Having Standards to meet, even in very early childhood education, can be consistent with NAEYC's own highest standard---the insistence that educational expectations must fit the developmental level of each individual young child. Educators are expected to start where the kids are, as an age group, and individually. General principles of what to expect of children of any given age or grade, are important to recognize; but so too are individual differences in readiness.

"Learning standards and developmentally appropriate practices can indeed go together! No change in acceptable early childhood practices is necessary.  Learning standards can be incorporated into play, into emergent curriculum and projects and into small and large group times". (Young Children, July, 2008)

"All 50 states and the District of Columbia have adopted early learning standards related to language, literacy, and math for 3-5 year olds." NAEYC strongly recommends that those standards consider "social/emotional development, physical development and approaches to learning in addition to traditional content areas associated with schooling."

Further cautions include: avioding a cookie cutter style curriculum. Trust young children's ability to learn in self-directed, exploratory ways. Be wary of testing and other inappropriate assessment methods for young children.  Find a way to support training of early educators in how to best implement standards. In short, "Take good care of young children and help them to grow and learn and flourish", given who and where they are developmentally.

September 17, 2008

Comments

[Edwinna]

Amen! How I wish every teacher of young children would read this grandmother's comment. The TAKS test has put such a heavy load of fear on young children that the joy of learning is gone. It has been proven that children/adults learn in different ways. Why is it that the public schools have not put this finding to work? Just this week I read in the newspaper that the Ivy League colleges are questioning the ability of the SAT for choosing people who get into college.

[Adele Brodkin]

Thank you, Edwinna. I wish I knew why. And incidentally, since I am a grandmom, I am old enough to remember many many times before when there was an outcry about using the SAT to predict college performance. Hasn't made a dent in the use of tests---whether SAT or some other, though. Maybe it's taking the easy way out. When there are so many talented applicants and room for only some, testing is the out.

Thanks again for writing,

Adele

[Adele Brodkin]

Thank you, Edwinna. I wish I knew why. And incidentally, since I am a grandmom, I am old enough to remember many many times before when there was an outcry about using the SAT to predict college performance. Hasn't made a dent in the use of tests---whether SAT or some other, though. Maybe it's taking the easy way out. When there are so many talented applicants and room for only some, testing is the out.

Thanks again for writing,

Adele