The process for young students to get into the city's Gifted and Talented programs will soon be different, with Mayor Bill de Blasio promising other significant changes before the year is done.

Like most public school parents who have a child enrolled in a Gifted and Talented school program, Chadwick is very proud of her son Jeremiah, who is now 13.

“He’s an exceptional child, not to say that I am bragging or anything,” explained Sheila Chadwick of Graniteville. “He did very well. It put him at a standpoint where he wants to succeed at a different level.”

 

What You Need To Know

  • NYC Department of Education will administer the admissions test for the Gifted and Talented school program for the last time in April

  • The mayor says the city will seek comments from parents and elected officials through the summer with other official changes to the program to be announced by September

  • Some parents criticize the timing of these changes, with Mayor de Blasio set to leave office next January, due to term limits

 

Yet for a mom who prizes straight As, she’s giving an F to Mayor de Blasio’s decision to eliminate a high stakes test that determines which youngsters get into the programs. 

“Your whole life is based on tests,” Sheila said. “We have to prepare our children at a young age, so we have to prepare children at a young age to prepare to take tests.”

Mayor de Blasio says that admissions test, which is given each year to approximately 15,000 kindergarteners competing for just 2,600 available seats, will be administered one last time in April. 

“A single test that determines so much? This approach to testing is not something I believe in,” de Blasio said. “It’s not something the chancellor believes in.”

Critics say the test, taken by kids as young as 4-years-old, is an inadequate measure of student ability. Some parents with means spend months preparing their children for the test. Critics say that has led the Gifted and Talented programs to have a disproportionate number of white and Asian students.

The mayor says, with the Department of Education looking to incorporate more individualized instruction outside the classroom, there is no better time to rethink the city’s approach to the Gifted and Talented program, so that other deserving students can also benefit.

The mayor added that the city will seek comments from parents and elected officials through the summer, with official changes to the program to be announced by September.

Kaushik Das, who has a 10-year-old daughter that was enrolled in a Gifted and Talented program, disagrees with the timing of the restructuring, especially with the mayor set to leave office next January.

“They’ve clearly left it as a problem for the next administration to deal with,” Das said.