The good, the bad and the Common Core Standards

I am back from Boston and the MassAEYC conference and have had time to think about some of the points David Elkind made in his keynote address. Dr. Elkind is the author of many respected books, such as The Hurried Child, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk and most recently, The Power of Play.  One idea that Elkind shared during his keynote was that good experiences are the best preparation for bad experiences, and bad experiences only prepare you for bad experiences.  He gave the example of children who were directly affected by the events of 9/11. Researchers followed some of these children for several years, and found that the children who had no prior traumas were able to better cope with the events of 9/11. Children who had already experienced trauma in their lives were more adversely affected by the events. Their prior bad experiences did not make the bad experience of 9/11 easier to handle.

His words made me think about our current emphasis on standardized tests and the academic push into our early childhood classrooms. High-stakes tests; the weeks and months that go into preparing for them; and “kill and drill” scripted curricula have turned education into a “bad experience” for many of our elementary, middle and high school students. Pressures  from the federal, state and local policy makers has trickled down to our youngest students. (See previous post Kinder Kindergartens, Please) And with Arne Duncans’s Race to the Top, it looks as though these pressures will continue.

What is the best way to prepare our youngest students for the inevitable bad experiences (high-stakes testing for example) they will encounter? Do we give them more bad experiences? Do we take away playful learning, child-centered curricula, developmentally appropriate expectations and engaging environments? Do we remove all that we know is good for young children’s learning and replace it with didactic instruction that kills curiosity and threatens to turn kids off to school?  Or, do we make our children’s early experiences rich with discovery; full of language; and complete with secure relationships?

I had the chance to ask Dr. Elkind about this connection I was making between what he said, and the pressures of high-stakes testing. He replied that hadn’t thought about it quite that way – but agreed it was a valuable point. He stands with the many early childhood experts who have made a public statement about the new Common Core Standards, and the negative impact the current draft will have on early childhood classrooms.  There are just two more days to comment on the current draft of the Common Core Standards, and the early childhood push-back is getting some attention. If you haven’t already, please visit the Alliance for Childhood website today and learn more about the standards and how to comment on them. I urge you to do what you can to help secure good experiences for our children in the early years – and help prepare them for what lies ahead – both good and bad.