New tests to evaluate 5-year-olds for career-readiness

Washington kids are not ready for life beyond high school, if the latest round of college entrance exams is any indication.

The non-profit Partnership for Learning found that less than half of the students who took the S.A.T.’s passed with the equivalent of a B- or higher. The results from the A.C.T. were even more dismal.

There is a new push to get students ready earlier in their classroom careers. Some may even go as far as to test the career and college readiness of 5 and 6-year-olds.

“When I grow up I will learn how to be a teacher,” says 6-year-old Joliya.

“A Coast Guard,” says 5-year-old Lyle, “because they save people in the water.”

While some kids are able to identify pretty early where they want to go in life, for others the path is murky at best.

“I wanna be a wolf,” says 5-year-old Malachi.

One thing even the youngest students at Seattle’s South Shore Elementary School do all seem to grasp is that they have a lot to learn if they want to reach their dreams.

Kindergarten teacher Katy Hestad has been teaching for 17 years. She says college has always been a topic of discussion.

“That might not be their choice in life, to take a college path when they get out of high school, but we have to give them that opportunity. And we have to start it not in kindergarten, but actually pre-k,” says Hestad.

The developers at A.C.T. agree. The folks who brought us the infamous test for high school juniors and seniors is about to roll out a new series of assessments that reach down through junior high and into early elementary school. They call it A.C.T. Aspire.

“Even at the early elementary grades, we know that there are certain things that can be monitored that are important to identify whether a student might be off target or not,” says Paul Weeks, Vice President for Career and College Readiness.

A series of tests for students between third grade and high school is in the final development stage. Weeks says they plan to begin testing the exams in classrooms next year.

“We recognize that there’s quite a buzz generated any time you talk about kindergarten and testing in the same breathe, and we do in fact intend to address the kindergarten, first and second grade years,” says Weeks.

Most kids don’t know how to read when they enter school. They don’t have much by way of math skills, and they certainly don’t know history or geography. So, what, exactly will Aspire be testing for?

“To just keep focused at what you are doing,” says 5-year-old Hugo.

Hugo is actually right on track. It is not facts or knowledge the new A.C.T. program will be looking for. It will be testing for the skills that make good learners.

“The ability to solve problems, to engage in critical thinking,” says Weeks.

Aspire will also examine a student’s motivation, study skills and the support kids have outside the classroom. The tests will also take a look career-readiness skills like team work.

“A lot of work has been done so far to back-map standards and make sure that if we know that outcome and we know what skills are essential, how do we track that beginning in earlier grades?”

While Weeks and the rest of the A.C.T. development team put the finishing touches on Aspire, the young learners in Mrs. Hestad’s class will keep working toward their dreams.

“I would wanna be a…How am I supposed to know?” says Malachi.

The creative, energetic 5-year-old is still working on a back up plan, just in case that whole wolf thing doesn’t work out.