This article originally appeared in the November-December 2005 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Testing for four-year-olds?

The national Head Start test is stirring up controversy

By Lynlee Murray

Four-year-old David (not his real name) was given Head Start’s standardized test in a private room, away from his preschool class. The test questions were difficult and often worded awkwardly, but the tester wasn’t allowed to offer encouragement. At the end of the test, David begged, “Please don’t tell my mommy! She thinks I’m smart.”

Yasmine Daniel of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) tells this story as an example of what advocates say are major flaws in the National Reporting System (NRS), Head Start’s national standardized exam for four- and five-year-olds.

Grownups argue

The NRS, introduced in 2003, tests children twice a year on early reading and math skills, says Mary Bruce Webb of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families. Why a new test? In an effort to improve the quality of Head Start programs, says Webb, the test measures “the progress of children in Head Start and helps teachers look at the strengths and weaknesses in programs, with school readiness in mind.”

But the NRS has raised a storm of opposition. “I think this whole push for standardized testing is very scary,” says Jhumpa Bhattacharya of California Tomorrow. “To test kids at such a young age is completely developmentally inappropriate. It doesn’t take into account any of the research that’s been done in the last 20 years.”

Test opponents recently got a boost from a Government Accountability Office report (see Report finds flaws), which called the NRS flawed and unreliable. Webb would not comment on the report. The Children’s Defense Fund and the National Head Start Association are calling for an end to the NRS until it’s reformed.

Effects on kids

Child advocates and teachers say the NRS is

• Not age-appropriate: Neita Ellis of First Baptist Community Church Head Start in Pittsburg notes that four- and five-year-old children “have to be able to identify a nickel, know it is 5 cents, and make 25 cents. I don’t think any of the children got that question right.”

Tests are notoriously unreliable for young children. “(When) you ask a child a question, you (may) know they know the answer,” says Kristine Jackson of Marin Head Start. “But (if) they didn’t answer the way they were supposed to, you have to fail them.”

• Confusing and discouraging: Children are often tested by administrators or outside test providers, so teachers can keep teaching. But that means children are tested by adults they don’t know, which can make them uncomfortable and affect their answers.

The person giving the test is not allowed to encourage or prompt children. This is “very unnatural,” says Patricia Greene of the USC School for Early Childhood Education Head Start Program in Los Angeles. Teachers “are constantly encouraging children.”

• Culturally biased: “(Children) are asked to identify a vase,” says Daniel, “and there are four things in the picture that a low-income family might use as a vase.”

• Penalizing children who don’t speak English: All children are tested in English. Spanish-speakers can be tested in Spanish—but only after they fail in English. Judy Cashell, of the Center for Community and Family Services Head Start in Pasadena, recalls one Spanish-speaking child sitting silently through the test in English, looking at the table. “About ten minutes in, she looked up at (the tester) and said in Spanish, ‘I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.’ And (the tester) came to me, concerned about what that was doing to her self-esteem. 78% of our children are second-language learners. (The test doesn’t ask) how well they speak Russian or Chinese.”

The Spanish test also uses a very formal version of the language, says Alfonso Munoz of the California Head Start Association. “It is as if an English speaker is tested in Old English,” adds Bhattacharya. “It’s like setting the child up for failure.”

• Not comprehensive: Advocates also say the test doesn’t measure all the skills a child learns in Head Start, though Webb says Head Start may broaden the scope of the test.

Effects on programs

The NRS benefits programs by giving “agencies a guide to see where they stand in the bigger picture,” says Carla Burwell of the Glen County Office of Education. “I can look at all the data and say we’ve made improvements in math.”

But Head Start already uses a number of less intrusive surveys that measure social, emotional, and learning skills, says Condon. “The NRS doesn’t give us new info.”

Head Start allows parents to keep their children out of the test. Greene says her program “had over 90% of our families waive the tests.”

Effects on Head Start

Teachers and administrators fear the test will eventually be used to determine Head Start funding. Currently, Head Start pays for the NRS from funds that could have gone to teacher training, says Daniel.

“The data could be used to paint a very negative picture of Head Start,” says Munoz. If compared to children from wealthier backgrounds, Head Start test scores will be lower. “We are working with poor kids from diverse backgrounds with (all the) issues that come with poverty,” he adds.

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Report finds flaws

Head Start: Further Development Could Allow Results of New Test to Be Used for Decision Making, a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), says the current version of the NRS:

• is not valid or reliable

• does not determine a program’s effectiveness

• may not adequately measure skills of Spanish-speaking children

• may not provide programs with sufficient information to make changes

• does not tell programs what training or assistance would improve results.

Highlights at www.gao.gov/highlights/d05343high.pdf

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Head Start Reauthorization

Action: Contact your senators and let them know your views on the NRS test.

Background: Head Start funds are up for renewal (“reauthorization”). In September, the House of Representatives passed a reauthorization bill that suspended the NRS until more study is done. The Senate will probably consider Head Start reauthorization in January, says Ed Condon of the California Head Start Association.

Children’s Defense Fund and National Head Start Association are calling for the NRS to be suspended because

• it is biased in favor of white and affluent children

• the scope of the test is limited

• it may be harmful to children

• it doesn’t have enough funding.

For more information, contact CDF, 202-628-8787, NHSA, 703-739-0875

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Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• Save Head Start offers information and advocacy tools about the reauthorization of Head Start and other updates about Head Start. Online at http://www.saveheadstart.org

• Head Start Debates discusses issues related to Head Start, including school readiness, IQ vs social competence, early childhood intervention, poverty warriors vs child developmentalists, health, mental health, quality, family support, and models for the future. $60. Edited by Edward Zigler, available from Brookes Publishing, (800) 638-3775; online at http://www.brookespublishing.com/
  store/books/zigler-7756/index.htm

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