by National Association of Early Childhood Specialists
in State Departments of Education
- Kindergarten teachers and administrators guard the integrity of effective, developmentally appropriate programs for young children
They do not yield to pressure for acceleration of narrowly focused skillbased curricula. - Children are enrolled in kindergarten based on their legal right to enter
Families are not counseled or pressured to delay entrance of their children for a year by keeping them at home or enrolling them in preschool. - Kindergarten teachers and administrators are informed about measurement strategies and techniques and are involved responsibly in their use
They do not defer measurement decisions solely to psychometricians and test publishers. - Retention is rejected as a viable option for young children
It is not perpetuated on the basis of false assumptions as to its educational benefit. - Any tests used at kindergarten entrance are valid, reliable, and helpful in initial program planning and information sharing with parents
They are not used to create barriers to school entry or to sort children into what are perceived to be homogeneous groups. - All children are welcomed - as they are - into heterogeneous kindergarten settings
They are not segregated into extrayear programs prior to or following regular kindergarten.