Requiring Kindergarteners To Read Could Harm Some, According To Report

A new report from early childhood experts suggests that the Common Core State Standards, which calls for students in kindergarten to be able to read by the time they graduate to first grade, could actually be harmful.

The Washington Post published a story based on the report--Defending the Early Years and Alliance for Childhood put the report together--and the authors of the study suggested that "many children are not developmentally ready to read in kindergarten."

Authors Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn Bywater MaLaughlin, and Joan Wolfsheimer Almon asserted there has been no research that documents the long-term gains from learning to read in kindergarten.

"The adoption of the Common Core State Standards falsely implies that having children achieve these standards will overcome the impact of poverty on development and learning, and will create equal educational opportunity for all children," the reports reads.

The authors called for leaders to pull the standards and to rewrite them. Among other things, the report recommended creating a task force of early childhood experts to come up with guidelines for "supporting young children's optimal learning from birth to age 8."