Filed under: nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test | Tags: gifted talented lawsuit, pearson nnat2 test, pearson olsat test
According to the Wall Street Journal, a lawsuit claims New York City’s gifted and talented testing process is flawed. A group of parents filed the lawsuit against the Dept. of Ed. late in the afternoon Thursday, May 16, 2013. The group of parents claim the sibling preference in scoring isn’t fair due to the number of limited seats available for the must sought after gifted and talented program here in NYC. The DOE did change the sibling policy for scoring preference in October 2012 but soon retracted it due to parents complaining about the change – all of whom have more than one child so it was somewhat of a self-serving complaint against the DOE. The DOE did originally stated in their G&T handbook in October 2012 that there will be a drastic change to the sibling policy for G&T placement which was basically making it a fair playing level field. This was then removed from the gifted and talented testing handbook in January 2013.
I do feel for these parents who had to go to the extreme of filing a lawsuit against the department of education but when there’s little to no communication from this establishment there’s no other recourse except working through the legal system. We’ll see what happens next. Just when I thought the ongoing snafus from the department of ed. would end…well, I was totally wrong on that one. We’ll see how this impacts the future scoring of the NNAT-2 test and OLSAT test for this coming school year. That is, if the DOE will even use these tests any longer due to Pearson’s (the test publisher) screw ups.
Filed under: nnat test, OLSAT Test | Tags: citywide gifted programs, nyc district wide, nyc gifted talented results
Well, the updated gifted and talented test results have arrived! Since the big snafu with Pearson, the test publisher of the Naglieri Non-verbal Abilities Test (NNAT-2) and Otis Lennon School Abilities Test (OLSAT). Yep, the 4 year olds in New York City are by all standards a cut above their peers across the nation. This NYC water does taste super crisp and clean but now I’m wondering if there’s a shot of G&T prep sprinkled in to get these types of results that go way outside the standard deviation of when the test was actually developed with a national sample.
According to the results below almost 32.4% of the children who took the gifted and talented test this year qualified while a mere 24.5% from last year. I suppose you’re asking yourself, how is this even possible with the addition of the much more difficult NNAT-2 test. Yes, I have the same question myself.
Test results of the NYC gifted and talented for 2012-13 of qualified district and city-wide seats.
Filed under: nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program | Tags: gifted talented scores, nnat test scores, nyc dept of ed, olsat test scores
Well folks, if you haven’t heard there’s yet another blunder with the gifted and talented test results this year. It seems that Pearson, the test publisher for both the NNAT test and the OLSAT test, made another huge mistake on almost 200 test scores for our talented tots in New York City. According to the DNA Info article, the Dept. of Ed. is playing the blame game against Pearson for their inadequacies in scoring the test. It’s interesting how the DOE leaves out the fact they lost over 400 tests just few weeks ago but I guess it’s easier to deflect blame to Pearson since they are the ones making millions of dollars on the administration of these tests to our kids here in New York.
So, now we have even kids qualifying for a seat into the G&T program and the department of ed has extended the deadline for school applications to Tuesday, May 15. I suppose it can’t get any worse than this but then again, I said that couple of weeks ago and look what happened.
Stay tuned for even more drama and make sure you sign-up for free practice questions on Testing Mom web site.
Filed under: nnat test | Tags: district 2, district 3, gifted talented test scores, nyc gifted talented
Well, it looks like there’s something in the water in District 2 and District 3 in Manhattan! With the recent debacle of the G&T test scores it now looks like there are even more talented tots strolling around the streets of lower Manhattan and the UWS.
I’m not sure how the DOE is going to explain this one, if they will talk to anyone about it that is. Numerous press outlets and upset parents have demanded answers without avail. According the DNA Info article is seems now that over 50% of the kids in both District 2 and 3 qualified for a coveted seat in the NYC gifted and talented program. Not sure how this is even statistically possible considering the NNAT-2 test is supposedly much more difficult than the BSRA test it replaced from years in the past. This makes getting a district-wide seat in District 2 or 3 next to impossible unless your child scores in the 97th percentile or above.
TestingMom.com has been inundated with disgruntled parents complaining about the ongoing saga created by the Department of Ed. without any satisfactory resolution of the scoring situation.
G&T school tours which were suppose to end two weeks ago have now been extended through this week and school selections from parents are due this Friday, May 10 by midnight. We’ll see if there’s any more drama that comes up over the next few days. I hope not but at this point nothing would surprise me.
Filed under: nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test | Tags: gifted and talented scores, nyc dept of ed, pearson scoring
Well, it looks like the NYC dept of ed miscalculated thousands of test scores for the recent gifted and talented exam given to the talented tots in New York City. This is the third fiasco in the past seven days over the recent test. So, not sure where to begin but here are the highlights that we know so far:
- Pearson, the publishers of the NNAT-2 test and OLSAT test are the vendor responsible for the G&T assessments. It seems that Pearson made a serious error in calculating students’ results.
- Here’s the contact person at Pearson, if you feel the need to voice your concerns: Susan Aspey, Public Affairs, susan.aspey@pearson.com or 347-421-2473
- Families will receive an updated score report and application by April 29, 2013 . The previous application deadline of April 19, 2013 is extended for all families until May 10, 2013.
- If you already submitted your application you can update your gifted and talented school selection if you’d like but you don’t need to re-submit unless you are changing your choices.
- The DOE has set up a gifted and talented hot-line if you have questions. Hopefully they’ll actually answer the phone. Here’s the phone number: 1-888-705-9417.
- You can read all the FAQs and other tidbits on the Dept of Ed website.
Filed under: nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT Test | Tags: composite score nyc, missing test scores
Well, it looks like the NYC Department of Education loses 400 test scores for the NNAT test and OLSAT test that were given to thousands of children this past January and February. I realize there were changes this year but to lose test scores? Good grief! In the era of modern technology how is this even possible without realizing it 3 days before gifted and talented applications are due by parents. Here’s what one parent said about the missing scores for their son. It’s unimaginable what these parents are going through without any help from the DEO. And the Dept of Ed wonders why people have little faith in their abilities? Well, DOE read this:
My son’s test is missing and no one told me what the issue was. Like the parent in this article I had to make so many phone calls and send way too many e-mails and DOE staff was not helpful at all …. very frustrating! But at least now I know I am not the only one fighting to get my child’s score.
Read the full article here about how 400 test scores are missing.
I also haven’t been impressed with the way the DOE is handing the process this year and at best has given misinformation to parents about the composite scoring dilemma. Oh, you haven’t heard of that fiasco either? Well, in the fall of 2012 the NYC gifted and talented handbook indicated the child’s placement into the G&T program would be based solely on the composite score. The DOE now changed that policy without telling anyone until this week – a few days before the applications are due.
Here’s an article about how getting a perfect score is now not a guarantee for a city-wide seat from the amazing resource for NYC schools on DNAInfo. Another one for the DOE to add to their laundry list of faux pas this testing season.
Filed under: nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program | Tags: nnat test scores, nyc gifted test results
If you look at the NNAT test score distribution for all the kids who took the test going into Kindergarten for 2013 it’s way off compared to what it should be with the predicted distribution. As you can tell, many more children scored in the 90th to 96th percentile than what would be expected in the distribution. What does this tell us about the NNAT-2 test results? Well, a couple of things are possible culprits:
- 4 year olds in New York City are just plain smarter than the rest of the nation when it comes to gifted and talented testing therefore NYC needs it’s own distribution curve and raising the qualifying score needed for the gifted and talented program.
OR
- Parents are preparing their kids so they receive a much higher score than the same children would if those same children weren’t prepared.
Sites like Testing Mom recently reported their members children on average scored in the 96th percentile. So, the question remains is it something in the New York City water that’s making these kids score higher than the rest of the kids in America or is it going into the test more prepared compared to other children their same age that don’t live in NYC?
Chart from: The School Boards web site
