Well, even the New York Post chimes in on gifted talented program here in the big apple! According to the article, the testing of 4-year-olds just isn’t fair! Well, I tend to agree but there has to be some sort of mechanism in place to properly vet these kids prior to entry into the gifted and talented programs sprinkled throughout the city. Sure, they could do nursery school and pre-school reports from the directors at these schools but that opens up an even bigger issue of potential bribery from parents. Don’t think so? Well, think about NYC tiger moms (and tiger dads) that will go to any length to make sure their talented tot gets a spot into one of these coveted schools and doesn’t have to fork over $40,000 a year for kindergarten at a private school. Getting one of these seats is like getting admitted to Harvard or Yale for your freshman year of college but this case, it’s at the ripe old-age of 4! The article does hit on the main concern and problem of the NYC gifted and talented program that I believe everyone can agree on. There just aren’t enough darn seats available for these kids and that feeds into the frenzy that these most-of-the-time normal parents turn into raving lunatics! Once a parent hears about how their friend’s kid is taking the G&T test for the OLSAT and NNAT that causes stress and anxiety…”Am I doing enough for my child? Do I just want to leave it up to chance when I send my 4-year-old into taking a test with a complete stranger?” Most parents understand this dilemma since it cuts to the core of parenting a young child, which is “Am I being a good parent?”
As long as their is a gifted and talented program available for NYC students entering kindergarten parents in the city will do just about anything (and I mean **anything**!) to get their child into one of these competitive programs. Sure, some parents spend thousands of dollars on private tutors but also there are fun sites like Testing Mom where parents can get free practice questions for both the OLSAT and NNAT2 tests!
Well, tens of thousands of tots begin the annual pilgrimage to get tested for the New York City gifted and talented program. The testing takes place on the weekends for the pre-K students at a local public school and for those kids in kindergarten to second grade take the test at their school during the day. Nervous parents across the city are vying for coveted spots in the most competitive kindergarten race in the world. Last year, over 1,900 kids qualified for the city-wide gifted and talented program for kindergarten at schools like NEST+M and Anderson for only 250 available seats between all five city-wide gifted and talented programs. It’s just like the lottery, if you don’t play you can’t win so make sure your child takes the test because your child may be one of the lucky ones to get one of the 250 available seats in the ultra competitive city-wide program. Luckily, there’s always the district wide G&T programs so that opens up more available seats to parents who kids score in the 90 to 99th percentile on the NNAT2 and OLSAT tests. So much for the simple life in New York City for these parents and their little ones who have no idea of the massive consequences if they do not score well on these tests.
NYC Gifted and Talented Program and Testing 