Wednesday, June 30, 2010

New Gifted Testing in New York May Begin at Age 3

New Gifted Testing in New York May Begin at Age 3


By SHARON OTTERMAN

City education officials revealed this month that they would begin searching for a new gifted admissions test in response to complaints about low minority representation in gifted programs and concerns that professional test preparation services skew the results.

But any new test is unlikely to alleviate what many parents consider the most anxiety-producing part of the process — sending 4-year-olds into an exam that could decide their schooling for the next six years. In fact, the city may begin testing even earlier.

While the city says it is open to considering other options, it will most likely continue to rely on standardized tests for prekindergarteners as the central admissions criteria for the elite programs, and under the new protocol, which would begin for the 2012-13 school year, it could begin testing 3-year-olds born late in the year.

The current test is valid only for children 4 and older, but a new test could work for even younger children, allowing the city to speed up the admissions calendar to make it simpler for parents who are balancing private school deposits and kindergarten wait lists, education officials said in interviews and public testimony over the past several weeks.

New Gifted Testing in New York May Begin at Age 3 - NYTimes.com.

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