9486 in the collection
"State tweaking testing of VPK students
Stephen Krashen Comment [sent to the Tampa Tribune]
Florida's Kindergarten screening exam will now include "letter recognition and phonemic word blend." This means that Florida expects these skills to be taught in pre-kindergarten.
There is quite a bit of evidence that the ability to combine letters
into words ("phonemic word blend") is not a prerequisite for learning
to read, but is the result of reading experience: Studies show that
the ability to blend emerges on its own as children get better in
reading. Studies also show that training on blending and other aspects
of "phonemic awareness" only improves performance on tests of phonemic
awareness, not reading. In addition, millions of people have learned
to read without training in blending.
A better test is to see if children like storybooks.
By Michele Sager
State school officials want to see how kindergarten students can
sound out words and will add it to this year's kindergarten screening
test.
The Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener is given to kindergarten
students during the first 30 days of the school year. This year, the
Florida Department of Education is changing the reading assessments on
the test.
The test is not only important in determining a child's readiness for
school but is a factor in determining Voluntary Prekindergarten
scores. In the same way school grades influence parent choices in
public schools, VPK scores influence choices in preschools.
Students have been tested on two components in reading: letter
recognition and initial sound. Under the new test, which will be
administered in the first 30 days of the school year, students will be
tested on letter recognition and phonemic word blend.
"That simply means testing a child on whether they recognize how
letter combinations sound when they create a word," said Lisa Bellock,
kindergarten supervisor for the Hillsborough County school district.
The new assessment is more in line with VPK standards, according to
state Department of Education officials. Bellock said the state tries
to create a test that measures readiness without becoming as
time-consuming as other standardized tests. The screening sets the
benchmark for students entering kindergarten.
"The burden is on the public schools to test all these students even
if the child attended VPK but then went on to a private school," she
said.
VPK is the publicly funded state program that allows 4-year-olds to
attend preschool for free.
The state is constantly reviewing and refining VPK assessments, said
Kelsey Lehtomaa, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of
Education.
"This is the fourth year of calculating these rates, but we have
purposely written the procedures via the rule for only one year so
that we get public/provider input and continue to raise the awareness
of these details in the private preschool sector," Lehtomaa said.
The state is holding a series of public workshops to hear from
parents on the assessment changes. The meeting for the Tampa Bay
region will take place Sept. 16 at Coordinated Child Care of Pinellas,
10601 Belcher Road South in Largo.:
— Michele Sager, with comment by Stephen Krashen
Tampa Tribune
2009-08-27
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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