Testing the testing waters

So. Monday (April 25). The topic is Formal Testing and Assessment in Kindergarten. If you do a quick search of the hashtag, you will see: there is quite a bit of buzz about this topic. People are coming who do not usually join us when we discuss glue management (If you don't know why we would need to discuss that, you clearly have not taught kindergarten for long enough). Some of those "people" are companies who CREATE standardized tests. Some of them are schools who believe in those tests. Some of them are teacher advocates who berate the tests. Most are teachers who use the tests against their own better judgement, because they have little choice. Surely you can see the potential for mudslinging and finger-pointing, just as clearly as I can.


Before I go on, I think I need to air some bias: I am a Canadian. I attended Canadian schools. I now teach in a Canadian school. We do not have, use, accept, believe in, standardized testing as it is used in the US. The thought of kindergarten students being subjected to this kind of testing makes me ill. I think it has no business in a classroom. Related: I think BUSINESS has no business in a kindergarten classroom. Hmm, now that I think about it, that last sentence nicely sums up the reasons that the thought of Monday's chat is already kind of giving me a stomachache: it seems so very difficult to discuss testing without it turning into a discussion of The American Education System and Everything That is Wrong With It and How It is Everyone's and No One's Fault, All at the Same Time. Believe me, I definitely have some opinions about all of those things, but the entire debate is so huge, so complicated, and so deeply personal for so many people that it often overwhelms me. I am fairly certain I am not alone in my overwhelmed-ness.


So, in preparation for the upcoming chat, please let me clarify: Our topic for Monday is NOT educational reform. It is NOT a debate on the relative merits and flaws of charter/public/private schools. It is NOT a discussion of No Child Left Behind, or of Race to the Top. We will not discuss whether Bill Gates is or should be a relevant figure in the efforts to "fix" America's schools. We will not discuss the definition of "good teacher" vs "bad teacher," nor we will discuss unions, merit pay or the value of seniority. If you want to request a #kinderchat about any of those things, we will consider it, but this Monday, we have only 1 hour, so let's make it a good one.


Our chat is, and remains, a community primarily composed of teachers, teaching kindergarten, all over the world. We welcome and embrace non-teachers, whether you are administrators, non-profit groups, specialists, authors, artists, parents, student-teachers, or private enterprise. However, our priority in all of our topics is to address the experience of teaching kindergarten. That said, our conversation for Monday will use the following definition:


Standardized testing refers to the administration of externally-created (i.e. not by teacher or school district), norm-referenced, tests or assessments that are given to all students in your grade level.


With that as backdrop, let's frame our discussion around these questions: 

• Do you/are you required to administer standardized tests in your kindergarten program?
• Which tests do you use, or have you used? (Please remember when dropping acronyms that our chat is an international group, and it is helpful to provide links or full titles, at least the first time you mention a test.) What is the best/worst test you ever administered?
• What curriculum areas/developmental domains do those tests address? Do you feel those tests provide meaningful feedback to you as a teacher on children's skills and progress?
• What is the testing experience like for the students? 
• Do you feel the tests themselves are developmentally appropriate? Is it possible to do standardized testing in a group situation in a developmentally appropriate way?
• Does the presence of testing affect what/how you teach?

I want to be clear: I am not opposed to our chats including opinions (Lord knows, I myself would not be safe or welcome in a place where opinions were not allowed!), and I think there is value in providing a forum for a variety of viewpoints. As we approach this complicated topic, which is so closely linked to  some pretty inflammatory issues, let us remember some things I wrote as the lead-up to our last potentially controversial topic:

1. No teacher, school, board, district, city, or country, is handling these issues perfectly.
2. Everyone participating has a genuine desire to improve their own practice and policy.
3. Everyone participating is willing to answer questions regarding their classroom practices and policies.
4. Everyone participating is doing their very best to ask questions in an open and respectful manner.
5. In spite of the limitations of 140-character text communication, the default "tone of voice" in the chat is warm, curious, genuine, and respectful.

We are, according to many, "the nicest chat on Twitter." Let's prove them right.

xo

Amy

Personal Sensitivities and the Constant Critique

Well, hello out there! Heidi here! My goal was to have a blog post after every #kinderchat meeting of the minds yet it has been about a month since I last spoke in more than 140 characters!

The last few discussions have brought two important points up among our little community and it's time to talk about them. Granted, they were not brought up by regular weekly participants.

I believe this can be summed up in two parts:

1. The Constant Critic

2. Personal Sensitivities

As teachers, we all deal with both of these issues on a daily, ongoing basis. And believe me, it gets exhausting. Working with children on a daily basis on top of adult requirements for what they deem as proper practice certainly wears one down in both temperment and tolerance.

Our first case is the Case of the Constant Critic. This is someone I have faced may times. (Not this exact person, mind you, rather the type.) This person is generally appointed an expert through academia, attitude or job description. They are interested in influencing teachers through training. They have very clear ideas as to what should and should not be going in the classroom. They eagerly await a slip of a sentence to provide that crucial "teachable moment" to colleagues currently practicing the craft of teaching. They never seem to understand why teachers or colleagues are "resistant".

They will read that paragraph and incorrectly interpret that I do not value reflection of my professional practice.

I am reminded of the time I was evaluated by someone on my performance of a scripted curriculum. Her evaluation mentioned that my "mini-lesson" ran 12 minutes when it should only be 10 minutes.

I'm only going to say this:

If you are constantly looking for faults, you will surely find them.

Indeed, The United States is setting itself up for just that in our current climate of teaching. Personally, I cannot express how much the Canadian teachers and experts in kinderchat have influenced my thinking, practice and respect for their approach of education and the profession of teaching. I look to them as leaders in the field of teaching young children and want to specifically mention the wonderful sharing of teaching practice coming from Canada.

Kinderchat is not here to evaluate your growth or learning in teaching. We firmly believe that by sharing we will help each other grow and learn. We are a relaxed and happy group, full of jokes, stories and reflections. We grant each other professional expertise.

Click here for Kinderchat philosophy and Goals

Interesting to note, that this particular critiquer was either unable or unwilling to share his own resources and contributed nothing to the roundtable other than his opinions of the quality of our sharing resources and practice on the topic. Yes, critiques go two ways.

Who you are and how you conduct yourself within our community matters.

Secondly, the personal sensitivities and bias issue. I opened the chat last night with a request to keep Japan in your prayers or pray for Japan, something to that effect. btw I am not religious, but I felt that the extreme situation of a country facing nuclear meltdown warranted a call for prayers. I was quickly accused of being insensitive to atheists.

I will only say this:

If you spend your time waiting to be offended and excluded, you surely will be.

More on kinderchat cultural sensitivity policy and practices here

It is our goal to be a place of refuge and support for Kindergarten and Professionals working in the field of Early Childhood Education. If you spend your time tearing down systems of support, you are not helping our community and are interrupting productive conversations. This doesn't mean that we don't appreciate "tough questions" or a good old fashioned debate, but rather we are actively involved in our practice every day, we are human and we are all working very hard both offline and on to create wonderful learning environments for children all over the world.

Please think deeply about all of this before you participate as it is core to the beliefs of kinderchat.

Thank you,

Heidi

Gearing up

**Update Jan 28, 2013: While this post was written nearly 2 years ago, for another topic, tonight's #kinderchat about guns in schools is potentially even more sensitive and controversial. We ask you to read the following, and enter into tonight's chat with the same mindset of respect.**

Hello Kinderchatters!
So, I am kind of going freelance on this, since Heidi is on a mini-vacation, but I trust that if she disagrees, she will speak up, and we will modify accordingly. Tomorrow's kinderchat topic is: Social Justice and Cultural Sensitivity in the Kindergarten Classroom.  I'm excited about it, as I think these are SUCH important things for us to be constantly considering, contemplating, discussing. They are also, however, topics that are potentially sensitive, and therefore potentially controversial. On top of that, the freeways of Social Justice! Cultural Sensitivity! Anti-Bias! can be surprisingly efficient routes to the twisty alleyways of Religion! Immigration! Race relations! Gender Roles! Gay rights! Mainstreaming of special needs populations! And, while all of those things can make fascinating and thought--provoking discussions (I do love a good soapbox!), they can also get VERY personal, VERY quickly. As I mentioned last week, kindergarten teachers are certainly a passionate bunch, and I think we need to be conscious of harnessing our passions in a professional direction.


With that being said, I propose the following: 


As we begin this Monday's conversation, let us all assume that:

1. Everyone participating in the chat supports the importance of teaching and modelling social justice and cultural sensitivity; that it is not a question of "whether" to teach these things, but a question of "how to best do so."
2. Everyone participating is committed to creating a classroom and program that allow all children and families to feel welcome, safe, included, and special; that this is also a "how" question, not a "whether" question.
3. Everyone participating is capable of placing the needs of children and families above their own personal beliefs and opinions.
4. Opinions, understandings, and policies regarding social justice and cultural sensitivity vary widely by generation and geography (among a long list of other factors that influence our practices and our policies).
5. No teacher, school, board, district, city, or country, is handling these issues perfectly.
6. Everyone participating has a genuine desire to improve their own practice and policy.
7. Everyone participating is willing to answer questions regarding their classroom practices and policies.
8. Everyone participating is doing their very best to ask questions in an open and respectful manner.
9. In spite of the limitations of 140-character text communication, the default "tone of voice" in the chat is warm, curious, genuine, and respectful.

How do those sound? Can we agree on those for this week? Could they maybe be the foundation of something we agree to for every week? Have I forgotten anything really important? Kinderchat is, above all else, a community, so please use the comments to help fill in anything I missed.

If you have the time, I ask you to please read (or at least skim) the introduction to NAEYC's guide to Anti-Bias Curriculum, as it will provide a framework for our discussion.  For more reading, you can also check out:

• How to Build an Anti-Bias Library
• Q & A With the Authors of the Anti-Bias Curriculum

(Thank you to @havalah for tracking down these resources for us!)

And a final thought for this week -- In light of the events surrounding Natalie Monroe's suspension from work due to the content of her blog, please, PLEASE be cognizant of what you say online. Our kinderchats are archived. The archives are read by colleagues all over the world. When you use the hashtag, you represent our community.

Okay, enough preaching from me for now. Go forth and enjoy your Sunday afternoon! I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow, 9 pm, EST.

xo

Amy