The Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss discusses the new Race to the Top (RTT)-Early Learning Challenge criteria, which includes as an absolute priority the use of “development standards and kindergarten entry assessments to promot school readiness.” This despite, as Strauss notes, early childhood development experts have stated that “preschoolers are too young to be evaluated by standardized tests in part because they don’t have sufficient ability to comprehend assessment cues.”"There is something disturbing about an early childhood education initiative that doesn’t seem to take into account how young children learn best. Where, for example, is the priority about ensuring that all early childhood programs provide creative opportunities for kids to explore and learn? That’s how they best learn, myriad child development experts have said for years,” concludes Strauss.