I am a big supporter of the power of play in preschools and grade schools as standardized tests take up more time in those classrooms. Now one interest group is warning of a play-deficit crisis.

Tests are crowding out playtime in kindergarten and creating problems in school, U.S. News & World Report’s Nancy Shute reports this week.

But kindergarten tests are almost certainly counterproductive, according to a new report from the Alliance for Childhood, an advocacy group in College Park, Md., called "Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School." Pushing children to perform at a level they aren't old enough to handle increases behavior problems and failure rates and takes away from a focus on the importance of play, which is what 5-year-olds really should be doing. – On Parenting, U.S. News & World Report, 4/7/09.

These days benefits of play are increasingly well-documented, even as the amount of playtime shrinks. Kids lost roughly eight hours of play — an entire workday — and 12 hours of basic outdoor and free time over the last 20 years, David Elkind writes in The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children.

What I liked about Shute’s story was that it went beyond the latest report and offered parents a lot of tips, such as: 

• Tell your child that tests do not measure how smart, able, or good a person is. 
• Consider requesting that your kindergartner not be tested.

The power of play isn’t crystal clear, and the Alliance for Childhood clearly has an agenda to encourage more playtime. Over at The Early Ed Watch Blog Lisa Guernsey points out we need more research on the benefits of playtime. (Guernsey’s post offers an excellent review of current writing and research on play and school, while also promising to track the issue in the coming months.

Where does the play debate fit in the broader dialogue on early learning. While advocates, teachers and academics are talking about it, when will it rise to the level of serious policy debate? Perhaps when Congress and the Obama administration tackle the No Child Left Behind Act.

Any thoughts?