ATA warns standardized testing will cause 'stress and anxiety' for kindergarteners

Kindergarteners in the province will receive standardized testing for the first time this month, something the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) says will negatively impact both teachers and students.

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“The value of these tests is minimal,” said ATA president Jason Schilling during a press conference on Wednesday.

“They cause stress and anxiety, especially for our younger students, whose developmental levels vary greatly amongst their peers.”

Schilling says the ATA, along with Richelle Marynowki from the University of Lethbridge, closely looked at the standardized diagnostic assessment tools (SDATs).

Schilling says the tests being timed creates pressure, leading students to feel like they failed at certain subjects they haven’t learned yet.

“Kindergarten is meant to foster a love for learning and build kids' curiosity and creativity and these assessments jeopardize that,” Schilling added.

With growing class sizes in the province and the implementation of multiple new curriculums with “inadequate resources,” he says the tests are unnecessary.

“It’s stretching the ability of our teachers to meet the additional and instructional needs of our students and making our teachers come to a breaking point.”

The ATA estimates teachers will lose three to five days of instructional time Students in grades 1 through 3 will also receive the assessments this month.

The province says the assessments will help identify students who need additional help sooner.

Kathryn Babowal, director of Les Petits Soleils Inc., a French preschool in Sherwood Park, says students in kindergarten aren’t at an age or environment where they’d be prepared to take a test.

“The grand majority would actually not at all be ready to be sitting in the classroom and following a teacher,” Babowal told CTV News on Wednesday.

Supporting the tests would be easier for Babowal if there were more resources in place to support both students and teachers completing them.

“There is no funding from the government, to say, bring in substitute teachers to have this testing be done.”

'These are not tests'

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides defends the assessment as a tool to determine additional support for students in need down the road.

“We want to make sure every kid has an incredible foundation in numeracy, literacy and these screeners will help us identify areas where more support can be provided,” Nicolaides told CTV News Calgary.

“These are not tests, right, because on a test you get a score, you get a grade, it counts towards your mark. It’s something you can fail, these are not tests,” Nicolaides added.

The education minister says it’s a “screener” that will help assess a student's level of ability in a certain area.

“I don’t know why we wouldn’t want to have as much information as possible as to the strengths of each individual child. The more information we have, the more the teacher can support them.”

The province is allocating $10 million this school year to help. Nicolaides says school boards can use the funds to hire more educational assistants or to expand the number of hours they’re working to help support students.

Schilling says in a system that’s short “hundreds of millions of dollars” in funding, "$10 million is a drop in the bucket.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski and CTV News Calgary