Experts Debate Testing School Readiness Skills

If a 5-year-old can’t hop on one foot, does that mean kindergarten is a bad bet?

That ability--along with identifying colors, repeating numbers and drawing pictures--is among those measured in kindergarten readiness tests to determine whether children have the skills to enter kindergarten.

May can be a stressful month as the deadline for kindergarten registration looms. And as two bills wend their way through the state Legislature that could markedly change the entire process, parents--especially those with children born in the latter half of the year--are struggling with the confusing arguments over when children should start their 13-plus years in schools.

The debate--along with parents’ worries--has given birth to a cottage industry of kindergarten readiness testing at $35 or more a pop, testing that some experts scoff at as unscientific and virtually worthless.

“This is a fad. People are inventing this worry,” said Lorrie Shepard, a researcher in early childhood education at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

“The differences between a 4 1/2-year-old and a 5-year-old are very significant,” countered Bonnie Bruce, owner of a Huntington Beach testing service. “Those few months in between are very crucial in helping them mature and develop.”

Kindergarten is optional in California and parents can choose to wait a year to enroll their children in school. As many kindergartens become more focused on academics, the issue of when children are ready for school can be a wrenching one.

If parents hold the child back, will he be ahead of the pack when he enters the next year, or just a kid who’s a year older? If they put a 4 1/2-year-old in school now, when she still finds it hard to hold a pencil, will she turn into a pint-sized stress case?

As parents seek expert advice, the education establishment offers little guidance; kindergarten readiness is one of the most hotly debated topics in early academia, right up there with phonics versus literature-based reading.

Bruce defends the practice of holding back children who seem unready, and applying tests to determine school readiness. For one thing, she said, California is one of four states that has a December-birthday kindergarten cutoff date, rather than the more common September-birthday cutoff. That means more California children are starting school before they are ready, she said.

According to Dr. Stanley Walters, a child psychologist, the answers parents are given often depend on who profits.

Preschools make money when a child stays another year. School districts gain state funding for every child enrolled.

Walters, who also offers readiness testing for $45, advises parents to give a critical eye to how tests are being administered and who is staking their case.

State education officials take the issue a step further. Kindergarten readiness tests in general are unscientific, because of the very nature of the young children tested, they say.

“Those tests are as accurate as flipping a coin,” said Ada Hand, a consultant with the state Department of Education’s child development division. “No research has proven that holding back a child is beneficial.”

Hand says the tests are biased and fail to measure a child’s capacity to learn.

She and other researchers point out that young children develop at such a rapid and irregular pace that one who seems unready in May might catch up or even surpass the pack by December.

Walters counters that high-quality testing by qualified clinicians looks at important factors such as physiological and psychological development through games and verbal instructions.

The state’s position is that schools should be ready for all children, not the other way around. To quell some parents’ anxiety, Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster) proposed a bill (AB 85) that would shift the kindergarten cutoff from December to September, making children older when they start kindergarten. Separate legislation by Sen. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) would make kindergarten mandatory. That bill (SB893) sponsored by the California Teachers Assn., contends that it is more advantageous for children to begin their education early.