Alignment is desirable, indeed critical, for
standards to be effective. Yet effective alignment
consists of more than simplifying for a younger
age group the standards appropriate for older
children. Rather than relying on such downward
mapping, developers of early learning standards
should base them on what we know from research
and practice about children from a variety of
backgrounds at a given stage/age and about the
processes, sequences, variations, and long-term
consequences of early learning and development.32
As for state-to-state alignment, the current situation
is chaotic. Although discussion about establishing
some kind of national standards framework
is gaining momentum, there is no common set of
standards at present. Consequently, publishers
competing in the marketplace try to develop curriculum
and textbooks that address the standards
of all the states. Then teachers feel compelled to
cover this large array of topics, teaching each only
briefly and often superficially. When such curriculum
and materials are in use, children move
through the grades encountering a given topic in
grade after grade—but only shallowly each time—
rather than getting depth and focus on a smaller
number of key learning goals and being able to
master these before moving on.33
Standards overload is overwhelming to teachers
and children alike and can lead to potentially
problematic teaching practices. At the preschool
and K–3 levels particularly, practices of concern
include excessive lecturing to the whole group,
fragmented teaching of discrete objectives, and
insistence that teachers follow rigid, tightly paced
schedules. There is also concern that schools are
curtailing valuable experiences such as problem
solving, rich play, collaboration with peers, opportunities
for emotional and social development,
outdoor/physical activity, and the arts. In the
high-pressure classroom, children are less likely
to develop a love of learning and a sense of their
own competence and ability to make choices, and they miss much of the joy and expansive learning
of childhood.34
Educators across the whole preschool-primary
spectrum have perspectives and strengths to bring
to a closer collaboration and ongoing dialogue. The
point of bringing the two worlds together is not for
children to learn primary grade skills at an earlier
age; it is for their teachers to take the first steps
together to ensure that young children develop and
learn, to be able to acquire such skills and understandings
as they progress in school.
The growing knowledge base can shed light on
what an exchanging of best practices might look
like,35 as noted later in “Applying New Knowledge
to Critical Issues.” Through increased communication
and collaboration, both worlds can learn
much that can contribute to improving the educational
experiences of all young children and to
making those experiences more coherent.