New York City’s gifted and talented programs have always been among the nation’s most competitive and experts say the criteria for entry, including tests like the NNAT-2 (aka Naglieri) test, are about to get more difficult. Specifically, it is the gifted and talented testing of kindergarteners which is about to increase in difficulty. According to a recent article, the NNAT test added to NYC Gifted and Talented Program Assessment makes it even more imperative for parents to prepare their children with free practice questions from TestingMom.com.
In the past, NYC’s public schools utilized the Bracken School Readiness Assessment and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test for the assessment of intelligence and heighten abilities in kindergarteners. Beginning late in 2012, the NYC testing program will replace the Bracken test with the NNAT test, which is a more difficult test for such young children.
While the NNAT test is believed by many to level the playing field for older children in terms of unbiased assessment of intelligence, it is more challenging for younger children given its focus on nonverbal, visual reasoning and abstract logic skills.
The Bracken test formerly accounted for 25% of the NYC’s gifted and talented assessment test, while the Otis-Lennon encompassed the other 75%. The NNAT test will now be 25% of the assessment, while the Otis-Lennon will continue to be the other three quarters of the exam. Because the NYC gifted and talented program and its assessment methodologies influence those throughout the rest of the nation, the addition of the NNAT test to the kindergarten-level exam is likely to set a precedent nationwide.
NYC Gifted and Talented Program and Testing 