Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program
NYC expands outreach for gifted and talented program by providing information sessions
In the past, the DOE help information sessions one per borough which garnered hundreds of anxious parents at once to herd into an auditorium to find out how their gifted girl or brilliant boy could get a coveted seat in the NYC G&T program for either citywide or district wide. The NYC Dept. of Ed. is hoping to increase overall parent attendance by having these information sessions at each of the districts to answer any and all questions parents may have about the program. It’s also a 3 for 1 special since these sessions will also have information. Here’s more information provided by the DOE on this must-attend events for parents of little ones. There’s also a great article on DNA Info outlining all these changes and schedule by district.
Filed under: NYC Gifted and Talented Program | Tags: nyc gifted talented, OLSAT test
Our friends at Testing Mom (home of the free practice questions for gifted and talented) are hosting two live seminars for parents in October. One will be on the Upper East Side and the other midtown west near Penn Station. Both seminars cover the same material so you only need to attend one.
If you’re a parent to a preschooler or early elementary school-aged child and feel overwhelmed or confused by the NYC gifted and talented program eligibility testing and admissions process, you can hear from a team of NYC experts. They do ask that due to the topic children should not attend these sessions. You can register below:
Filed under: testing mom | Tags: hopeorgnyc, nnat test, NYC Gifted and Talented Program, OLSAT test
The non-profit HOPEorgNYC helps prepare kids for the gifted and talented test in New York City. Jill Goldstein, founder of @HOPEorgNYC, founded the non-profit in 2015 due to the lack of participation of students in lower-income areas of NYC who take the NYC gifted and talented test for children entering kindergarten through 3rd grade. The mission of this group is to lessen the divide within the gifted and talented program in New York City. HOPE meets with students every Saturday morning from September through January to help them prepare for the upcoming NNAT and OLSAT tests.
Over the years, it has been evident that the NYC gifted and talented program skews to more Caucasian and Asian students vs. African American and Latino students. The population of gifted and talented students based upon race is disproportionate to the racial population of the city. According to the NY Times, this racial segregation within the schools begins as early as pre-K and then really manifests itself going into kindergarten with the gifted and talented program.
HOPE plans to even out the playing field within district 10 in the Bronx where the program meets at the local library every Saturday to help local students prepare for the test. Their goal is two fold: help the kids succeed on the the G&T test and to do well in school.
Here are students who have benefited from the wonderful work HOPE is doing in the Bronx. The kids thank TestingMom.com for giving them test prep materials and for sponsoring the HOPE team.
NYC Gifted and Talented Testing Overview
Here’s a great overview from our friends at TestingMom.com (home of the 100 free practice questions for gifted and talented and private school admissions to help your child prep for these tests with tons of sample questions.)
If you are reading this, then you are a parent or a grandparent in NYC who is trying to find the best possible school for your little one. There are so many options in New York – private schools, gifted and talented programs, general education – it can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially if your child is just 4-years-old!
In NYC, you have 3 possibilities when it comes to a free gifted & talented education for your young child. Children take different tests to qualify for these programs:
Citywide Gifted and Talented Programs
Children will take the Verbal Portion only of the Otis Lennon School Ability Test® (OLSAT® test), which counts for 50% of the child’s composite score (Following Directions, Aural Reasoning, Arithmetic Reasoning for Levels A, B, C or K – 2nd grade), and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test® (NNAT®2 test), a non-verbal test, which counts for 50% of the child’s composite score. The question to your right is a practice question for the Pattern Completion subtest for the NNAT®2 test.
Your child will be given a nationally normed percentile rank for the OLSAT test and a percentile rank for the NNAT2 test. Then, these two scores will be combined into a single percentile score that will be normed against other NYC students. A child must score at the 97th percentile or above to be eligible for these programs. In the last few years (due to space limitations), only children who score in the 99th percentile have gotten into these programs. The only exception to this is siblings of current students who are admitted with 97th percentile or above.
District Gifted and Talented Programs
Children will take the Verbal Portion only of the Otis Lennon School Ability Test® (OLSAT® test), which counts for 50% of the child’s composite score (Following Directions, Aural Reasoning, Arithmetic Reasoning for Levels A, B, C or K – 2nd grade), and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test® (NNAT®2 test), a non-verbal test, which counts for 50% of the child’s composite score – a child must score at the 90th percentile or above to be eligible for these programs.
Your child will be given a nationally normed percentile rank for the OLSAT test and a percentile rank score for the NNAT2 test. Then, these two scores will be combined into a single percentile score that will be normed against other NYC students. A child must score at the 90th percentile or above to be eligible for these programs.
For the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test® (NNAT®2 test), all of the questions are “puzzles” involving shapes and figures that require visual-spatial reasoning to solve.
NYC Gifted and Talented Program and Testing 