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May 17, 2007

Preach it, Dr. Krashen!

"Florida is now testing five year olds on letters and sounds, to see how well pre-kindergarten programs arepreparing the children for kindergarten ("State releases free pre-kindergarten ratings," May 16). Ifscores aren't high enough, the pre-K program can fail. This will undoubtedly result in attempts to ensure that pre-K programs are more "rigorous" and that they get serious about drilling letters and sounds. What's next? Will Pre-K programs now want to screen three year olds to make sure they are ready for their pre-K curriculum? Will we soon see pre-K prep for two year olds? FCAT and NCLB have turned schools in test-prep centers, and kindergarten has become a training camp for first grade. Now Florida wants to destroy what is left of childhood." --Stephen Krashen

Sign up fpr his newsletter (link to his site on the blogroll to the right) for more and the research to prove it. The FCAT is the Florida equivalent to the Georgia CRCT.