In D.C., controversy over academic testing has new frontier: preschool

By Michael Alison Chandler. The controversy over academic testing has spread to an unlikely new frontier in Washington: preschool. Some D.C. parents are protesting a plan by the city’s public charter school board to rank preschools based largely on how children as young as 3 are performing on reading and math tests.
The board set out to provide parents with a clearer picture of how charter schools compare with one another. It also wants to provide educators with a way to measure progress toward the goal of better preparing children for school, a goal that led city leaders to make a historic investment in universal preschool for 3- and 4-year olds. But as of Saturday, more than 200 parents had signed a petition asking the board to take a broader look at school quality and put more emphasis on the social and emotional development they want to see emphasized in their children’s schools. More...