New Haven Independent

The Yale emeritus psychology professor weighed in Monday about the state of the city’s schools, the rights of kids to play, and State Sen. Toni Harp’s critique of the Board of Education.

He said the school need more dress-up corners.

“If school is about only numeracy and literacy, as it seems to be these days nationally and in New Haven,” Zigler said, “kids will be shortchanged.”

The occasion was a getting-to-know-you-again reception at the Children’s Museum organized by the Gesell Institute. Gesell was once the leading think tank on child development in the nation; it’s in the midst of a rebirth.

Zigler, who said both the Obama and Clinton campaigns (but not McCain’s) have consulted with him on children’s policy, had the No Child Left Behind Act on his mind, as did many in the Gesell crowd.

“If you ask schools to do what’s impossible — have no difference in achievement between rich and poor, black and white — and do it by 2014, the way Bush has in NCLB, then the schools will fail, he said.

With so many tests and too little play time, kids don’t learn social development, how to play by rules, how to be part of a group, a class, a community, Zigler argued. He made the case for more dress-up corners, and free play as utterly as fundamental as academics. “With NCLB, it’s all numeracy and literacy all the time.”

Zigler was asked about State Sen. Harp’s ongoing critique of the public schools tolerating sub-par performance for too many years while charters down the street, like Amistad, appear to be doing the job.

“I’m a researcher. Toni Harp is a decision maker. But, look, it’s not just the schools,” Zigler said. “We’ve known for generations that the role of the parent is key. The New Haven schools are making some inroads there, as they are with all day early childhood programs. But what’s the quality of the programs? That’s what Gesell is about. But the mayor and [Superintendent of Schools] Dr. [Reggie] Mayo, who are both friends, are saddled with the NCLB, and it has the potential to ruin things.”

And Amistad?

“It’s very impressive, but we have to see if they’re dealing with the same population. I’m involved soon in an evaluation to see if the school is somehow selecting its kids. We’ll see.”

Gesell Comeback

Established in New Haven in 1950, the Gesell Institute pioneered using film to document the stages of a child’s development. Then it became the chief advocate for school-readiness assessments.

Gesell, with offices in an historic house on Prospect Street, is reviving its profile in New Haven under the leadership of Marcy Guddemi, who knows not only kids, but marketing and business. The timing too seems to be right, she suggested, as there is general exasperation with No Child Left Behind. NCLB treats children as large groups of test-takers, said Gesell board chair, Lawrence Kaplan (pictured with Zigler). Gesell’s educational mantra is individualized understanding of where each kid is on the developmental scale, and tailoring learning to him or her, to lay the foundations of lifelong learning and success.

The gathering of some 50 early- childhood educators included New Haven first lady Cathy DeStefano. DeStefano, a longtime pre-school and first-grade teacher, is a passionate advocate both of more recess/play time and of a Sept. 1 birthday cut-off so too-young four-year-olds will not start kindergarten.

Standing in front of an amphibious display of frog books, and speaking, Guddemi made the case for investment in quality early childhood education. “You’ve all heard that a dollar invested in quality early child care will return $4 in money saved on remediation…or prison. Now, with inflation, the investment is worth $14.”

Quality, by Gesell’s lights, is education that treats each child as an individual. “Half of the country’s children learn to read before age six and a half,” she said, “and half after.
So if you have a roomful of five-year-olds and some are not ready to read and the teacher doesn’t know this, and a lesson is crammed for which the child resists, then the joy of learning is lost, potentially for the entire educational career of the child, and for life.”

In Guddemi’s capacity as one of the country’s leading advocates for more recess and play time, she has already joined hands, personally, if not institutionally, with such people as Nilda Aponte, an early childhood educator with All Our Kin, and an activist on both recess and suspension issues with the grassroots educational lobbying group, Teach Our Children.

The newest Gesell program with NHPS is the Parent-Teacher-Connection Program. Through visits to the school and home, Gesell parent-teacher liaisons are going to try to bridge the gap between school and home that may exist with many four-year-olds transitioning from day care to kindergarten. The pilot program will be working with some 75 kids at Lulac Head Start, with the Head Start at Hill Central, and two school readiness classes at Wexler-Grant. Those interested should call Gesell: 777-3481

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