I’ve got my EYE on you: Schooled Readiness, Standardized Testing, and Developmental Surveillance

Abstract

In recent years early learning and child care (ELCC) has become a significant priority area for many provincial governments, including New Brunswick (NB). The NB consortium perceives ELCC as instrumental to achieving broader economic prosperity and social well-being. In hopes of problematizing rather than normalizing the contemporary spotlight on ELCC, I interrogate how school readiness has become the selectively targeted problem for which pre-school developmental testing is proposed as the solution. The specific means purported to address school readiness in NB is the Early Years Evaluation – Direct Assessment (EYE-DA). While EYE-DA testing is ongoing and powerful, I conclude that the recent pan-Canadian uptake of curriculum frameworks and pedagogical documentation may incite counter possibilities and provocations for those of us working with young children.