In
contemporary kindergarten classrooms, children’s literacy abilities are often
assessed by tests used to determine a child’s ‘readiness’ for school. Readiness
often means letter identification, phonemic awareness, letter-writing, and
other functions related to language mechanics.
A
new paper (http://ecl.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/03/1468798414548778.full.pdf+html)
investigates the assessment tools (both
locally and federally mandated) that are used to measure and evaluate
children’s literacy abilities. Drawing from a 4-month ethnographic study on
teaching and learning in kindergarten, the study reveals the social, cultural
and academic issues associated with labelling children as ‘below average’
readers and writers.
Through
observations made at collaboration meetings, interviews, classroom field notes
and children’s written texts, the study documents how three kindergarten
teachers and their principal assessed children using assessment tools.
At
the same time the author studied the writing practices of the children in one
classroom, focusing specifically on those children identified as ‘below
average’.
The
study traces the ideological issues behind assessment tests, the kinds of
discourse that teachers take up in response to these tests, and the obvious
race and class divisions that separate students.
Finally,
the study looks at the ‘below average’ children in one classroom to discuss the
nonlinear, resourceful and innovative ways in which children arrive at
language, many of which are not measurable.
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