NYC Gifted and Talented Program and Testing

PS 11 Gifted and Taleneted District 2 Serving Up Farm Fresh Vegetables to Students!

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:12:07 +0000

As they say, you are what you eat! When it comes to a healthier food selection for our gifted and talented children in NYC, PS 11 in District 2 is way ahead of the pack. Maybe one day the OLSAT test will cover health and nutrition questions for our little ones as they take the gifted and talented test for New York City schools.

“P.S. 11 at 320 W. 21st St. has managed to combine several food programs to become something of a holy grail for the local, sustainable and organic food-in-school movements. Children at the school grow their own veggies in a garden, have lunches made by a professional chef, and even run their own farmer’s market.” Read the entire article from DNAInfo.com.

Email me at skipper646@gmail.com for free sample questions.

Should your gifted and talented child skip a grade?

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:46:00 +0000

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.

Hunter Elementary Test Results Require a 148 or above on Stanford-Binet to qualify for second round

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:23:24 +0000

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.

Update on the NYC Gifted and Talented Testing Schedule

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:33:30 +0000

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.

P.S. 33 Halloween Vocabulary Parade for Gifted and Talented Classes!

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:12:57 +0000

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.

Bracken Test Results for NYC G&T Program

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:13:27 +0000

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.

Raw scores achieved by the child are converted to percentile scores and later converted to descriptive categories to determine the child’s readiness for school. The Bracken can be given to a child as young as 2 ½ years old until the 2^nd grade.

Though it may be of mild concern to some whether said results are reliable, especially considering several factors such as a child’s behavior and attributes upon taking the said exam, this BSRA test is still used throughout the United States as its benefits outweigh the disadvantages presented.

Reliability and validity of these said descriptive categories are measured within the expected ranges based on the age of the examinees. This test authored by Bruce Bracken is a helpful tool in determining the child’s readiness to start school and whether or not the child’s mastery at a certain grade level is appropriate to his age and level.

Deadline to Register for Gifted and Talented Testing for NYC on October 28, 2011

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:19:16 +0000

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.

Find Out What the NYC Dept of Ed Won’t Tell You – Workshops for Parents to demystify the process for private schools and G&T admissions!

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:49:43 +0000

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 -

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

A little OLSAT Test Trivia!

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:05:15 +0000

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.

Published by Pearson Education, Inc the OLSAT exam is now on its eight editions. Since its first publication in 1979, the OLSAT is a valuable tool for educators in the assessment of their students learning and exceptional skills. The following are the suggested OLSAT exam levels for students: Kinder- OLSAT exam level A; First grade to Third grade OLSAT exam levels B, C and D. For 4^th and 5^th grade students, they will take OLSAT exam level E, while 6^th grade students to 8^th grade take OLSAT level F and finally those in Grade 9 to 12 take the OLSAT exam level G. These levels evaluate the students learning skills and their scholastic achievements in school within the same grade. Correspondingly, this will help educators to focus on the strength and weaknesses of their students which needs to be addressed.

NYC Gifted and Talented Handbooks Now Available Online – Info. Sessions Start Next Week!

NYC Gifted and Talented Parent Expert — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:55:14 +0000

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