A New York primary school recently canceled an
end-of-the-year play for kindergarteners. The reason? The teachers and
administration “are responsible for preparing children for college and career
with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them
become strong readers, writers, coworkers and problem solvers,” according to a
signed letter sent out to the parents. Basically, the school felt that the
putting on a play was not an effective use of the kindergarteners’ limited studying time.
Although I personally find this
premise ridiculous, I assume the parents enrolled their kids in this school
with knowledge of just how seriously it took college readiness. If the parents
dislike it, they can switch their kids to other schools. But there is a more
serious underlying issue here – as the wealthy start preparing their kids for
college in kindergarten, students in less intense schools will fall further
behind in their competiveness. Students who have been trained to write college
application essays from the age of five will undoubtedly be at an advantage.
And since a college diploma is one of the biggest determinants of a well-paying
career and success in this country, a vicious cycle will be propagated. The
rich will get richer as they become even more advantaged in the college
admissions process, while low-income students will struggle or be trapped,
unable to get acceptance letters from the top universities.
Canceling a kindergarten play may
seem like a minor event, but I think it speaks to larger issues of educational inequality
in the United States. I don’t know what the best course of action is, but I
know that the current trend is unfair and, quite frankly, makes no one happy.
Regardless of background or aspirations, kindergarten should be a time of
finger painting and picture books, not standardized tests and studying.
This is a good point to raise that I agree with. While some may think that kindergarten is unnecessary because it seems like kindergartners only go to school to draw and play as well as partake in naptime, I believe there are several research studies that prove that a kindergartner/pre-k education is beneficial to a student's future success.
ReplyDelete