International tests for babies?

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests for 15-year olds have been around for a long time, comparing results for teens in different nations around the world on tests of math, reading, and science. Usually, US results are less than stellar.

But…Baby PISA! According to Helge Wasmuth, an associate professor of early childhood and childhood education at New York’s Mercy College, Baby PISA is coming, and hardly anyone knows it.

More importantly, Prof. Wasmuth raises some serious questions about how this program is being developed and how babies are going to be evaluated. Certainly, with many educators reluctant to start doing evaluations of children even in the lower elementary grades (hence Kentucky’s current KPREP tests don’t start until the third grade), whether a meaningful evaluation of 3-year olds is even possible seems very much in question.

Wasmuth isn’t alone with concerns about this new program. Truth in American Education has weighed in, and they are not pleased.

If your toddler is selected for this dubious program, I would strongly suggest parental caution.

That’s assuming someone is even informing parents that their toddlers are being used in some sort of international comparison study.