Yesterday I received an irate email from a prominent Manhattan tester. She disapproves of my blogging about the Stanford-Binet and other test prep books now available.
Here’s how I see it:
I am against private and public schools using so-called “intelligence” tests to determine which four-year-olds are worthy of admission.
Some children go through their developmental growth spurt at seven, some go through it at four. I don’t think that means that earlier developing children are smarter, or that earlier developing children should have access to better schooling. Plenty of research now indicates that projecting a child’s intelligence based upon performance on an approximately one hour test taken at four years old is misleading and often wrong.
I believe that schools should change their kindergarten admissions requirements. Until they do, parents are always going to do whatever they can to help their children have access to the best educational options. Clearly, if test prep books help, many parents are going to want them.
Is test prep in the best interest of four-year-olds? No. So for the madness to stop, it’s up to the schools, supposedly institutions that teach us and lead, to reform admissions. Clearly, schools, testers, and others have a stake in the current process even though it’s not in the best interest of children and families.