Letters: Don't add tests for kindergarten

Regarding "Kindergarten test OKd," [News, Oct. 18], I am an early intervention provider. After all of the drastic budget cuts by the state, how do they expect young children to be ready for kindergarten?

Those who are developmentally delayed are having their preschool special education, speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy reduced or denied altogether. The agencies and providers are expected to do a lot more work, with drastic cuts in funding over the past 18 months.

Patricia Braver, East Northport
 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is supporting New York's application for a $100-million grant to develop a new assessment tool to measure kindergarten readiness. I believe that this is a misplacement of much-needed funds; more qualified teachers are needed, not more assessment tools.

Most kindergarten teachers already administer an entry evaluation test, which combined with teacher observation sets the pace for the school year. In New York City public schools, language assessment has been in place for years for kindergarten through second grade. It is helpful but also very time-consuming.

As an experienced early childhood teacher, I have found that you can arrive at an accurate assessment by working with a class in small group settings and one-on-one interviews during the school day. After the first few weeks of school, most teachers have a good idea of their class needs. This works best when class sizes are small.

Patricia Gill, Eastport

Editor's note: The writer is a retired New York City kindergarten teacher.
 

Regarding "Why burden 5-year-olds with tests?" [Opinion, Oct. 28], why burden indeed? It is because the educational establishment sees a windfall of $100 million for the taking.

As writer Philip S. Cicero points out, New York already has mandatory screening for all kindergarten students to determine their language, basic reading and math, and motor skills. Money would be better spent providing professional development for the less-effective teachers.

Advocates claim that investing in early learning can produce $7 in returns for each $1 spent; this voodoo economics doesn't acknowledge that if we spent the $100 million more effectively -- for example, on educating students in grades K-12 and at the state universities -- we would get a real return on our investment.

Perry Russell, Farmingville

Editor's note: The writer owns the Abigail Bottoms Preschool in Holbrook.