Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, Parents Resources for NYC G&T | Tags: aristotle circle, testingmom.com
Now that the OLSAT test is behind most of us for the NYC gifted and talented program many parents wonder if their child should actually skip a grade (or in some cases even 2 grades!). Arsitotle Circle wrote a great article on this topic indicating the mains things to consider:
- Teacher feedback on your gifted and talented child
- School experience
- Current peer group
- Your gifted child’s schedule and after school activities
Of course you can also find out by practicing questions from TestingMom.com where you get 50 free sample questions.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test | Tags: hunter elemetnary, OLSAT test, stanford-binet
In case you didn’t hear, Hunter Elementary Gifted and Talented school in NYC announced that a child must receive a score of148 (or above) on the Stanford-Binet to qualify for the second round which is in-school visit coming up in a few short weeks. The 148 is actually lower than the 149 score required for the admissions into the most competitive kindergarten in the US. Getting to the second round is actually the easiest part of the process as now parents have to put their child in a room of other ultra-bright kids in NYC who scored 148 or above. At that point in time, their child becomes the average student for the first time in their life. Their peers the little ones will encounter during the second round are just as bright and intelligent – at least by what the results of the SB-5 indicated. The second round at Hunter usually consists of 250+ students who are then separated into groups of 20-25 per session. Yes, it’s a long process but actually probably the best method to select children for this program as there are various tools and techniques such as the Standford-Binet IV and in-school evaluation. Many parents are going through the gifted and talented process here in NYC and are now preparing for the upcoming OLSAT test that’s only 10 short days away for our talented tots. You can get free OLSAT practice questions on TestingMom.com.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test, Parents Resources for NYC G&T
According to the NYC dept. of ed here is an update on the gifted and talented test dates.
- Private school and current Pre-K students will be notified of their test date by the Department of Education in mid-December.
- Public school students will receive notification of the test date from their school.
Read more about the test on TestingMom.com where you can get 50 free practice questions. As reminder, OLSAT test results will be sent to parents in early May.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, Parents Resources for NYC G&T | Tags: NYC Gifted and Talented, PS 33 chelse prep
The Halloween spirit was high at PS 33 Chelsea Prep with costume galore! The best part wasn’t the candy and treats but the newest addition to the Halloween spirit of the vocabulary parade! No, it’s not practice of the OLSAT test but added an incredible learning component to dressing up for trick-or-treat. Each student was given a word and then had to dress-up for Halloween that decribed the word. The costumes were amazing but the words these young lads were taunting about were those you’d hear in the halls of junior high and high school, not amongst 2nd and 3rd graders! Here are a few photos of the event and a big thanks to Alycia Zimmerman who spearheaded the event. Mrs. Zimmerman is one of the incredible G&T teachers at PS 33 and make sure you check out her classroom web site.
Is this on the OLSAT test? No, it's one of big words from the 2nd grade Gifted and Talented class at PS 33 Chelsea Prep!
The G&T Class at PS 33 Chelsea Prep Parade Across the Stage
PS Chelsea Prep Vocabulary Parade for Halloween!
If you’d like to be added to my gifted and talented newsletter or free OLSAT sample questions let me know by emailing me at skipper646@gmail.com. If you can’t wait, you can also get 50 free gifted and talented questions at TestingMom.com.
Filed under: BSRA OLSAT tests, NYC Gifted and Talented Program | Tags: Bracken, bsra
The Bracken counts for 25% of admissions to the NYC G&T program while the OLSAT counts for the remaining 75%. The Bracken (BSRA) test results are converted to descriptive categories: “advanced” or “delayed”. Since the Bracken exam is a standardized test developed accordingly, in line with strict guidelines and measures, the test results also follows professional testing score guidelines. There are free Bracken practice questions on TestingMom.com.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program
Attention parents! As a reminder, if would like to have your child tested for the NYC Gifted & Talented (G&T) program, you must submit a Request for Testing form (RFT) if you want your child to take the OLSAT test. The Dept. of Ed. is encouraging families to submit the form online. For more information about submitting an RFT, read through the Gifted & Talented Handbooks on the DOE website. The deadline to submit an RFT form is Friday, October 28, 2011.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, Parents Resources for NYC G&T | Tags: parents information
The team at TestingMom.com where you can get 50 free practice questions is hosting 2 workshops for NYC Parents to demystify the process for private schools and G&T admissions! Discover what the NYC Dept. of Ed Won’t Tell You! If you have questions about the process and really didn’t your NYC gifted and talented questions answered at the DOE sessions last week.
There will be 2 workshops next week -
Register for Workshop #1 Tuesday – October 25 6:30pm to 8pm P.A.L. Workshop Series in Tribeca Downtown Community Center
Register for Workshop #2 Saturday – October 29 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Poet’s House in Battery Park City
You won’t want to miss this one! The panelists Include the Following Experts
Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom
Best-selling Author of The Ivy Chronicles and Testing for Kindergarten
Michael McCurdy
NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert
Dr. Kim Har, PhD
Testing Authority from Aristotle Circle
Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a Minor in Psychology from MIT; a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from NYU; a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia Teachers College; and a Ph.D.
Note: Dr. Har will only be attending the Saturday session.
- NYC Gifted and Talented Process
- Private school admissions process
- To prepare or not to prepare for the OLSAT test
- Test Practicing tips to incorporate in your daily routine with your child
- The concepts on the Otis-Lennon, Bracken, Stanford-Binet and WPPSI tests
Filed under: OLSAT Test | Tags: OLSAT Practice, Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, pearson olsat test
The OLSAT exam is the more common term for the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test. It is given to school age children from kindergarten all throughout the first grade to twelfth grade. Although, in NYC the OLSAT is usually only given for pre-K to 2nd grade for admission into the NYC gifted and talented. It is usually given per grade level and it is a sit down exam with paper and pencil unless the child is in PreK then the child can point to the correct answer. The OLSAT exam main objective is to measure the students’ math, reading, and comprehension, quantitative and spatial reasoning skills. Apart from the pre-kindergarten students, the OLSAT exam is given and administered per group. The OLSAT test results can take anywhere from 2 weeks up to 2 months. You can get free OLSAT samples on TestingMom.com.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test, Parents Resources for NYC G&T | Tags: G&T NYC, NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT practice test
The NYC department of education just posted the G&T handbooks for the 2011 – 2012 school year. It looks like the OLSAT test and Bracken will still be used (at least for this year) as the tests for entranced into the New York City gifted and talented program for kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade. Depending on the age of your child, the Otis-Lennon portion will be the OLSAT Level A (pre-K and Kindergarten), OLSAT Level B (1st grade) or OLSAT Level C (2nd grade). Make sure you go to TestingMom.com to get 50 free sample practice questions for the test.
You can also get all the juice from the DOE web site for handbooks which are pretty much the same as previous years but good to review for a refresher if you have it read it in a awhile.
If you’re totally new to this process for gifted and talented program in NYC, then you might find the parents information sessions somewhat useful. Keep in mind, these sessions historically have covered the same exact material in the handbooks from the Dept. of Ed. web site.
Here are some important dates you’ll need to know along with dates/times of information sessions starting next week:
- September 26, 2011 Families begin submitting the Request for Testing (RFT) Forms
- October 28, 2011 Deadline to submit Request for Testing (RFT) Forms
- October 2011 Gifted and Talented Parent Information Sessions – see flyer for dates and locations
- January 3 – February 10, 2012 – Current K-2 Public School Students, OLSAT/BSRA testing at school sites
- January 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 & 29, 2012; February 4 & 5, 2012
- Current DOE Pre-K Students and Non-Public School Students OLSAT/BSRA testing at selected sites
- Mid-April 2012 Score reports and applications with available G&T sites communicated to eligible students
- April 20, 2012 Applications due
- Week of May 21, 2012 Placement offers communicated to families
- Week of June 4, 2012 Deadline for families to accept/decline placement offer
Parents Information Sessions Starting Next Week
- Manhattan, October 5, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Brandeis High School, 145 West 84th Street
- Bronx, October 12, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, 500 East Fordham Road
- Staten Island, October 6, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., New Dorp High School, 465 New Dorp Lane
- Brooklyn, October 18, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., MS 113 Ronald Edmonds Learning Center, 300 Adelphi Street
- Queens, October 11, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Long Island City High School, 14-30 Broadway
- Bronx, October 19, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., P.S. 121 Throop, 2750 Throop Avenue
If you have questions, please email me at skipper646@gmail.com to get free sample OLSAT questions or to get my G&T newsletter list. Thanks – Michael
According to the dept. of ed. web site the NYC G&T handbooks will be available on-line by the end of this month. There was no indication if there’s going to be a change to the admissions process as such as replacing the OLSAT test and Bracken with new tests for admissions. I suppose we’ll find out in a couple of more weeks!
If you’d like to be added to my newsletter please email me at skipper646@gmail.com or if you’d like free OLSAT practice questions as well. Also, make sure you check out Testing Mom where you can get 50 sample questions for gifted and talented admissions.
