achievement gap · admissions · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

If NYC Mayor Won’t Engage With Communities, We Bring the Community Engagement To Him! Parents Speak Out On Gifted & Talented ‘Reimagining’

In February 2021, when describing the new Gifted & Talented programs he was planning for the 2022-2023 school year, New York City Mayor De Blasio promised: “We will spend the next year engaging communities around what kind of programming they would like to see that is more inclusive, enriching, and truly supports the needs of… Continue reading If NYC Mayor Won’t Engage With Communities, We Bring the Community Engagement To Him! Parents Speak Out On Gifted & Talented ‘Reimagining’

admissions · DOE incompetence · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

Just When You Thought NYC Gifted & Talented 2021 Couldn’t Get More Absurd…. Parents Tell All!

A month ago, I asked: Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions. The current state of affairs is so absurd it even got covered nationally. Qualifications letters went out on June 4. When I notified my mailing list about it, a parent wrote back, “It’s so… Continue reading Just When You Thought NYC Gifted & Talented 2021 Couldn’t Get More Absurd…. Parents Tell All!

Accountability · admissions · Gifted & Talented · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

NYC Mom Calls Out Unfairness in 2021 G&T Admissions for 1st-3rd Grade

(This is a guest post by Charleen Ang, working mother to three young children, 2 of whom are of elementary school age currently in the NYC public school system.) When our 4.5 year old son failed to make the cut-off score in last year’s Kindergarten G&T test, my husband & I were not overly concerned… Continue reading NYC Mom Calls Out Unfairness in 2021 G&T Admissions for 1st-3rd Grade

admissions · NYC high school · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · School Choice · screened nyc schools

Choosing My Daughter’s High School To Please Mayor DeBlasio

Regular readers of New York School Talk know how important Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval is to this NYC mom. Hizzoner was most displeased with the high-school choices I made for my two older sons. I have only my daughter left. This is my last chance to get it right! When trying to figure out… Continue reading Choosing My Daughter’s High School To Please Mayor DeBlasio

admissions · NYC high school · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents · School Choice · School Waitlists · screened nyc schools

How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t

Waitlists had long been a fact of life for New York City Kindergarten and Gifted & Talented admissions, Hunter College Elementary, and other public charter schools. But Mayor Bill De Blasio only added them to middle and high school admissions in 2019. (Previously, there had been a Second Round for teens who didn’t get any… Continue reading How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t

admissions · DOE incompetence · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions

After his own Panel For Education Policy voted down renewing the contract that had been used to test students for New York City public school Gifted & Talented programs in January of 2021, Mayor Bill De Blasio swore that parents of incoming Kindergarteners would still be able to apply their children for admission… somehow. In… Continue reading Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions

achievement gap · admissions · DOE incompetence · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · literacy · NYC Kindergarten · NYC School Admissions · school diversity · School Integration

NYC Endorses Gifted & Talented Approach Determined To Do Least Good For All Students (But Especially Minority and Low Income Ones)

On August 26, 2019, New York City’s School Advisory Diversity Group (SADG) proposed that the ideal way to integrate schools would be to get rid of stand alone Gifted and Talented Citywide and District programs, and replace them with an Enrichment For All Model. What would that look like? Chalkbeat reported at the time: (I)t… Continue reading NYC Endorses Gifted & Talented Approach Determined To Do Least Good For All Students (But Especially Minority and Low Income Ones)

Accountability · achievement gap · admissions · student voices

Why Getting Rid Of the SAT Won’t Bring Equity To College Admissions: Here Is the Only Thing That Will

Advocates for requiring SAT or ACT for college applications revere these tests as an admissions factor which only strongly favors wealthier students instead of overwhelmingly favoring wealthy students.  They don’t seem to realize that it’s college admissions officers who intentionally and systematically do the favoring. These admissions officers are the people who decide what characteristics… Continue reading Why Getting Rid Of the SAT Won’t Bring Equity To College Admissions: Here Is the Only Thing That Will

admissions · Educational Equity · School Choice · student voices · transferring schools

One Size CAN Fit All! A Student’s Take On School Choice

School choice advocates see that a student may be faced with a situation where if a school is a bad fit, they’re stuck there anyway. They want to help students by making it so that if they don’t like it where they are, they can leave and take their government funding with them to any… Continue reading One Size CAN Fit All! A Student’s Take On School Choice

Accountability · achievement gap · admissions · remote learning

Should You Opt Your Child Into NYC State Tests? The Pros and Cons!

In a change from previous years, in 2021, New York City parents need to decide whether to opt their children in –rather than out — of the annual state tests. The deadline to sign up for 3rd through 8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) exams was April 15, and the deadline to sign up for… Continue reading Should You Opt Your Child Into NYC State Tests? The Pros and Cons!