Dr. Edward Zigler Talks


 Questions From an Interview

Q: What do you make of Bush's push to have literacy testing in Head Start programs?
:Zigler: I'm not thrilled by all that testing. I don't think if you take somebody's temperature a lot that will make them well. What they really need are good teachers and smaller class sizes, which are good for younger ages. But all Bush seems to care about is literacy and testing. There's so much more to human development than being able to decode these words. That doesn't mean you comprehend what you're reading. So I'm not thrilled by it. Further, we know that the test scores of preschoolers are notoriously labile. Thus, the validity of any such test score is open to serious question.
Q: Why do you get annoyed at efforts to link better I.Q. scores with better child care? 

Zigler: This nation has always had this love affair with I.Q. and we don't understand its limitations. And that's why I'm having this fight with the Bush people right now with Head Start. They say it's a social program. They want a literacy program. If you go to school you better have the social skills. You better not grab that other little boy's blocks. You better do what the teacher says. So it's what I call the whole-child approach: A kid's emotions and personality are just as important as I.Q. But there's something about this country that we like numbers that summarize things. All of us know high-I.Q. people with whom we don't want to be in the same room.


Dr. Edward  Zigler was most times referred to as  

The Father of  Head Start"

 Edward Zigler Reflects on Head Start Program at 50



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