In an effort to transform the city’s gifted and talented programs, which he has long derided as a hodgepodge of offerings that have favored children in certain neighborhoods and with well-connected parents, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced a plan yesterday to limit the programs to students who score in the top 5 percent on admissions tests.
At a news conference yesterday announcing his plan, the chancellor estimated that roughly half the children in gifted programs now might not meet the new standards because they did not score in the 95th percentile or above on admissions tests. There have been no standard citywide cutoffs on admissions exams; last year, available slots in gifted programs were filled by the top scorers in each school district, and before that the admissions process varied throughout the city.
“In some districts you’ll find that half the kids that got in wouldn’t have met the 95th percentile threshold, and in other districts you’ll find a much different number,” Mr. Klein said. “The number is significant, and if you talk citywide, about half, that could be certainly in the ballpark.”
Mr. Klein’s overhaul of elementary school gifted programs also includes a new test to identify the gifted, the Bracken School Readiness Assessment, which gauges students’ understanding of colors, letters, numbers, sizes, comparisons and shapes. The Bracken test replaces the Gifted Readiness Scales, a test added last year because, officials said, it was easier to administer and would be more objective.
Under the new plan, Mr. Klein said, school districts that usually have a wealth of gifted programs could lose some, while parts of the city with a dearth could gain new ones. Officials said it was hard to tell whether the total number of children in gifted and talented programs would go up or down.
Children now in gifted and talented programs will not be affected by the changes.