Do any national practices or principles exist for kindergarten entry and placement?
Two national associations, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists/State Departments of Education, have been alarmed at continuing attitudes and practices which erode children’s legal rights to enter public school and participate in a beneficial educational program. These associations believe that a number of highly questionable practices have resulted from the trend to demand more from kindergarten children; including: inappropriate use of screening and readiness testing, denial or discouragement of entrance for eligible children, the development of segregated transitional classes for children deemed unready for the next traditional level of school, and an increasing use of retention.
