Standardized Testing In Early Education

The reading from Chapter 6 of Van Hoorn, “Play as a Tool for Assessment” posited many ideas that I find myself in agreement with. The contrast that was drawn between play-based assessment and the usage of standardized testing to assess identified how different forms of assessment can offer different views and depictions of students. Standardized testing in large part reduces a child to a number, and that number plays a critical role in how the student, teacher, and schools are judged, which can directly affect funding. Essentially, the child is not only reduced to a number, they are reduced to a dollar amount. This reduction is the result of a testing strategy that does not tell the full story of a student. A test score does not show the

As teachers, there is a civic obligation to develop well-rounded students that can be valuable members of society. In my mind, this is even more important in early education, as a young child is like a piece of clay. Their malleability means the behaviors and surroundings they absorb can have a massive effect on their development, whether it be largely positive or terribly negative. As a result, I believe that if the child’s emotional well-being is taken care of, and a sense of confidence is developed, the academic performance will follow. However, that is not to say that academics are an afterthought. The teaching of academics is where students can find their passions. In the search for a student’s areas of interest, I believe they are much more likely to pursue a topic if they have a positive belief in themselves. The mental and academic performance of a student go hand-in-hand, which is why, in my opinion, standardized tests are not the answer. The pressure they place on the children, and the educational community at large, can have repercussions that adversely impact the development of the

I want my students to be curious, and I find that play is a tool that allows the students to explore themselves. In a world with so much information and so many opportunities, a cookie-cutter, universal standard for what a child should know does not provide them the opportunity to find their own path. Evaluating based upon a test score does not do the child justice in terms of their own individuality. Play is an evaluative method that both offers a wider wealth of information about a child, and has a healthier impact on their