Sunday, October 21, 2012

Only in America: Are You Smart Enough for Gifted Kindergarten?



Seriously people. The test for admission into New York City’s gifted and talented public-school program has perennially led to nail-biting among parents. But this year, the anxiety has been ratcheted up even higher.  As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, city officials have moved to revamp the test for acceptance to gifted and talented kindergarten. In part, the goal was to make the exam more inclusive of the city’s multilingual population by eliminating language. But another motivation was to make the exam tougher, since nearly 5,000 children qualified for gifted and talented kindergarten last year — double the total from just four years ago….And that increased difficulty has sent some parents into a test-prep tailspin.

The familiar Otis-Lennon School Ability Test now makes up only a third of a child’s total score, while the new Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test comprises two-thirds. The change is prompting even more parents to flock to test-prep businesses. In her “In the Boroughs” column today, WSJ’s Sumathi Reddy talks to parents of 4-year-olds who are reluctantly shelling out hundreds of dollars for tutoring — even as they express misgivings about subjecting youngsters to drills.

Find out more at http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/10/19/new-york-city-gifted-and-talented-exam-sample-questions/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_NY_NY_Blog

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