Finding the 'Gifted and Talented'
April 30th, 2010
The Department of Education has released some numbers on acceptance to elementary school gifted and talented programs — and huge discrepancies continue to exist throughout the city both in the number of children who take the test and the number who qualify, based on their score on a standardized test, for city or district programs.
Overall, the department says, 12,454 students took the test this year — a drop of 2,400 from 2009. The department attributes this to a spike in test taking last year as the city moved to standardize the process for admission to the coveted programs. Some 3,542 students — or 28 percent of students who took the test — qualified this year, an increase of 300 from 2009.
Only one district — Manhattan’s District 2 on Manhattan’s West Side — showed an increase in test takers this year. Many district recorded large drops, with District 7 in the south Bronx seeing the largest percent drop: 52 percent.
District 2 also had the largest number of test takers with 1,479, while in District 7, only 85 children took the test.
More numbers after the jump
It’s not surprising so many parents in District 2 opt to have their kids take the test, since so many of the youngsters pass. Some 44 percent qualified for district gifted and talented programs. Here, though, District 2 was edged out by District 3, also largely on the West Side where 45 percent of kids did well enough to get into the District programs.
Only 7 percent of youngsters in District 32 in Bushwick qualified. Other districts at the low end included District 29 in southeast Queens with 11 percent eligible and district 7 and its South Bronx neighbor District 9 with 13 percent eligible.
For the more competitive citywide programs, district 2 and 3, joined by District 13, in section of Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Sunset Park, topped the list, while just 1 percent of kids in districts 5 in Harlem, 9, 14 in Williamsburg and Bushwick, and 29 qualifying.
In comparison to last year, District 30 in Astoria saw the greatest improvement with an 82 percent jump in the number of student qualifying for District programs, while District 32, with its admittedly small numbers to begin with, saw the greatest drop off.
Information the race of students admitted will not be available until next year.
By Gail Robinson on April 30, 2010, 1:41 pmIn category: Education, Gotham City | 2 Comments »


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