Day 3 of the G&T mailbox check: Letters have gone home
It's the middle of school vacation week, which means it's the perfect time for the DOE to send out important letters -- letters that some Insideschools readers consider potentially life-altering. Did you get your G&T score notification letter today?
We'd love to see a copy of the letter, if you can scan and email it to us. Thanks and relax!
199 comments:
Anybody in Brooklyn get it? District 13?
got it in district 22. Thankfuly my son made it but the scores show how ridiculous this process was. My son has known his colors since 18 months old and shapes since 2 (he is 6 now) he missed 1 color and 3 shapes on BSRA.
Got it in district 22
Just received it in District 25. It does include a list of new G&T locations for the district.
I got the letter today in the mail, district 18. My son qualified. Yippee!!! I haven't seen the letter, but I had someone at home read the important bits to me. We were given a choice of 5 schools in the district. Can't wait got get home to read it all myself.
Has the DOE mailed out scores for kids getting under 90th %ile too?
District 25 got G&T scores?!? What G&T schools were added to Dist. 25? 209 & 165 were the current schools...
Can't wait to go home!!!!!
Another District 22 letter received here. The list of schools with G&T programs: 52, 152, 193, 195, 206, 207, 217, 222, 236, 277, 312. No 139 (too close to 217?), which I imagine will lead to much parental hue and cry.
we got our letter today. district 2. 92 percentile.
There's a theory going around that if your child got under 90th percentile, your letter did not come in today's mail. I have seen nothing to dispell this and, in fact, all the comments I have heard here adn elsewhere support that. I hope that is not true. It would be so mean really to have it done this way.
District 5/recvd scores/99! For some of us the new expanded system worked!
Hope Anonymous at 5:22 p.m. is wrong... I raced home, and nothing is in our mailbox. District 25. Still curious as to what schools were offered for District 25... Could someone help me out?
I am really peeved. Not in the mail. Who is going to pay for my therapy after this ordeal? Not to mention my absolute loss of productivity.
Why is there a theory that the below 90% didn't get them today?
it seems to be more by district than score I am sure -- no one in District 2 today, including all the kids I know.
5:35 p.m. poster: from your lips to God's ears! Although I do see someone else in District 25 that DID get their score... :(
District 2 here (10016) and got the score.
The listed option shown new G&T schools, Q021 and Q032 added to Q165 and Q209 for District 25, besides the citywide schools.
5:49 p.m. poster: Thank you so much for posting the D25 G&T schools! :) Congratulations, if they're showing Citywide schools, looks like your child scored at/above 97! I didn't get mine today (11356), and hoping that doesn't mean that my daughter didn't get in after all this drama! I'll definitely need therapy if that's true! LOL
Received in Staten Island District 31 w/ 5 schools offered
can anyone confirm a letter received with score under 90
got our letter today - district 2. 98%. can anyone explain the bracken score breakdown? ie. how many wrong = what percentile?
District 15 in Brooklyn. Got local and citywide schools. Sprole??
Did anyone get letters for District 3 or 6, if so what schools were listed
Sprole is PS 32.
For those of you who DID get a letter & choices, do they ask you to rank them? So if eveybody puts the same district school (say, the bexter performing) somebody could end up with a school in their district that is not near where they live right?
Or might they do assts. geographically?
would there be bus service?
Those of us w/ no mail can only speculate as to what that letter might look like ... sigh.
I'm "seconding" the poster above:
Did anyone receive results and NOT get 90th percentile or above? Trying to prove/disprove theory of not receiving results meaning your child not in G&T...
Got the letter. Combined score 91st percentile. Surprised by the large disconnect between the OLSAT score (86th percentile) and my child's Stanford-Binet result (96th percentile). We didn't get any breakdown on the SB (administered for a Hunter application), but I am especially surprised by my child's OLSAT's non-verbal score, 62nd percentile. Oh well. Also a bit odd to see a wrong answer on the BSRA letters subtest; my child has been reading quite fluently for some time, has known all the letters for several years, and can write with a moderate level of competence.
district 2 (10044) here. we got our score. Got above 97% and 10 schools to choose from.
District 15 got ours today. Wondering how now to tour all those schools because I need to see them to make a choice!!!! One school I have seen as a regular school which I really liked and now they added a G & T program to it which is exciting I think, because I really liked it anyway.
Our tour dates now to follow or do we have to call the schools to get the tour dates. I still want Brooklyn New School the most even though now there are more options for my son, I still really like BNS and now actually got a lot to think about.
To respond to anonymous at 6:53pm: to convert from the BSRA raw score (items correct) to percentile you would need a chart. 98th percentile means a score that is at least as high as 98% of the norm group, which presumably is a large sample of kids from across the nation. Conventionally the highest possible percentile score is 99.
Hmmmm....we got our letter and lists 7 schools to choose from? I thought the choice was only five. Two of the schools listed do not appear to have gifted and talented programs.
We are in district 2....(zip 10016)
District 19.. my daughter made it, however, I was given only 1 school choice which is my zone school and i definitely do not want her going there. Any idea what percentages a child has to get in order to be offered different schools. Also, the scores are confusing.
Help
Didn't get ours in D3, and other families did. I'm guessing that they sent out the passing ones first so the families would have more time to figure out what schools they wanted. Since nobody is posting that they got a "didn't pass" letter, seems like those haven't been sent.
District 14 in Brooklyn. My daughter scored 99%, but there is only one district school and no citywide schools listed. The citywide schools should be listed there. What is going on?
I got the test results and I have a bunch of questions now because my child got in that I was not going think to much about until I got the score. I was wondering where I can get the answers. My questions are concerning these G & T classrooms.
For example are these G & T classrooms totally separate from the school they are in or somehow connected. Meaning for instance I liked PS 10 because of how the classrooms looked, the teachers I saw, the programs they had etc. Now I noticed that they added a G & T classroom there so I was wondering is the teacher and the classroom going to be run along the lines with the PS10 philosophy? or completely separate?
For instance I toured a G & T program at a school in which the whole school and the G & T program was too structured and traditional for my taste and what I think would work best for my kid. So it seemed in that school the G & T was connected to the school in the way it seemed extra disciplinary as well as the rest of the school. So i would not put my child there, it just did not seem like an environment that tried to foster a love of learning.
OK, so nobody got under 90%???
No mail means you fail?
did anyone from district 21 receive the letter in the mail today???
8:00 -- if your daughter scored 99% she should qualify for the 3 citywide schools. Are you sure the 99% was her combined score? (If, say, she scored 99% on the Bracken but lower on the OLSAT and her combined was say 94%, she would not have qualified).
If her combined is 99% then there's just a mistake, ant those schools should be choices as well.
My guess is that folks whose kids scored below 90% aren't as likely to be rushing to their computers to share the news with the world.
In other words, I wouldn't make any assumptions on the basis of not getting a letter today.
I think that they definitely sent 90 and above first, but no way they got them all out on the same day and the post office got them all delivered the same day.
could be alphabetical or some other inane ordering. who knows.
hey district 2 letter receivers, what are the two new locations?
In response to the 8:47 pm comment, the two new schools in District 2 that will have a gifted and talend program are PS 111 Adolph S. Ochs and 126 Jacob Augsut Riis.
ok got letter in Bayridge 98%! I am so happy......I got 12 choices. This is what I don't understand. Nest +M and Anderson are listed twice.......these are the citywide schools. They give you class availabilty and for Nest there are 5 classes.
There is no guaranteed offer to a citywide G&T program for students who scored at or above 97th In order to be guaranteed an offer, all District programs must be ranked.
I wish I had a breakdown of how the 1000+ that scored above 97 fall (97,98, 99).
Any Ideas.......I really wanted NEST
My son answered all 88 questions on the BSRA correctly, but only received 92% on the BSRA portion.
(96% total on the OLSAT)
I don't understand that. How did 8% score better than 88 out of 88? Could this be an error?
I'd appreciate any answers.
Thanks,
Kelly
Can't take anymore anticipation.......Can someone comment whether the envelopes for qualifiers were thicker than normal or just a letter enclosed??
We live in D3 and we received our score today
Recieved the letter in District 11, score >90 but <97. However, no schools were listed for the priority ranking. My kid is entering kindergarten, in this district are GT programs limited to 1st grade?
1. Those of you with SEVEN schools to choose from, please consider yourselves lucky.
2. The Bronx, again, feels sadly neglected.
3. My child nearly qualified for a citywide school, so I'm concerned not being in a GT program this year will hold her back from getting into a citywide school next year.
Best wishes for all parents and their kids, regardless of their scores.
District 2 zip: 10003
98% combined score
received today -- Thursday April 24th
Did anyone get a score today of below 90%?
Philissa-
Can you please put us out of our misery & ask your DOE contact how they mailed these darn things?
I can't stand 2 more days of obsessively checking this blog for clues to where my letter is!
As to how 88 out of 88 could be only 92%, there must be some sort of mistake--my child answered 87 correct on the BSRA & was in the 99th percentile.
Does anyone know anything about applying to programs outside of your district (that aren't citywide)? Or what if you move to another district? Thanks.
I think it is not only questions answered correctly but age of the child. SO my little girl is 5 years she answered 84 out of 88 and got a 99% rank.
THe letter says
the number comes from a nationally standarized sample and show the students standing in comparison to students of the same age.
I beleive that it was the same test for Kinder and 1st grade. but gets scored differently based on age.
if you don't qualify for citywide you are limited to district.
I want to know why do I have some choices repeated 2 times?
This is in response to Kelly. It's possible that 8% of the kids get a perfect score in BSRA. In that case only 92% of the kids are ``below'' your child. I assume you don't mean the Kindergarten test since it is clear that 87/88 correct gets you in the 99th percentile...
I got it - District 30 in Queens. What if the sibling is going to K in the fall? The sibling section on the application says "siblings who will be in grades 1-5" What to do?
Really, does every step of this process have to be horrible? WHY can't the DOE make this process transparent? If they mailed the 90% and above first, fine, just be straight forward with us. Don't leave us all hanging for days and days. It's truly cruel. I just don't understand WHY all the secrecy and intentional misinformation. What has it accomplished. I'm sure it's made for more work for them having to answer frenzied phone calls and e-mails from desperate parents!
Just spoke with a friend who knows a lot of moms waiting for results in District 2....No one got results and the chances are extremely small that none of those kids got above the 90%ile. Several of the kids either made it to round 2 of Hunter or were close.
Citywide choices are listed twice -- what does this mean?
If there are five G&T programs in the district and only two choices listed, does that mean the other three programs are going to be closed because not enough scores in the district above 90th percentile?
we are in district 2 and got letter thursday with 90+ score but not 97+ score. 7 choices. zip is 10002.
So I have to rank 12 positions, but all 3 of the citywide schools listed twice? Why?
I didn't even go to an open house....what do you guys know about TAG, NEST, ANderson/ WHich is the best?
Is it really worth traveling from Bklyn to 86th street and above?
Queens, district 28. got letter today. we got 99% for K. However, there are no district schools, only 3 citywide. they don't provide transportation from Queens to city. It means that I can put everything in garbage? Anybody, please- can I use this score for the 2009 1st grade or we have to take test again?
Got it yesterday...District3..One twin down..one more to go. Choice of 6 schools.
Schools: PS 9, PS 166, PS 163, PS 145, PS 191, PS 185
hey obsessive mom - are all those kids in one neighborhood? Upper east? or all late in alphabet?
To answer a comment above the envelope was thicker I could tell there was a return envelope in it. Reminding me of college acceptances.
I am in district 25...My dtr scored a 98 percentile.....yet, no district programs are listed. Does anybody have any idea of what district programs in districts 25 or 26 might be added for the Kindergarten level. If not, are there any Queens Kindergarten gifted programs that are not in Brooklyn which has tons of them. Feel free to email me at
wjm1066@yahoo.com
I am in district 25...my dtr scored in the 98 percentile...I am looking for a kindergarten program to be added in either district 25 or 26. Is anybody aware of any such program. My application only lists the citywide programs and does not offer an Queens programs. I really don't want to bus my 6 year old to Manhattan or Brooklyn. If anybody has any info on new Kindergarten programs, let me know and feel free to e-mail me at wjm1066@yahoo.com
Just my luck - I'm away on vacation this week and can't get to the mailbox! I'm curious whether district 03 has added any G & T programs due to the high number of eligible kids. I see that distcict 2 will be adding a couple so I thought....
D19, did anyone else got a letter from D18 and if so, what are the school choices.
Alos, I got results for my Kindergarten child and not for the other grade
Can someone help
Just curious if anyone contacted the DOE to find out whether the scores were mailed for kids who didn't score 90+. Based on all of these comments, it doesn't seem like it. But the question really is have all the 90+ scores gone out?
Someone posted regarding twins: Did both kids take the test and you only received one letter?
Also, can anyone comment on how these scores compare to the Stanford Binet score? Just curious if anyone had a high SB score and didn't make the cutoff or the score was significantly lower.
Parents, some of you guys are very lucky to have been given several school choice. I only got one - ny zone school.
Congratulations to all of these kids on such and outstanding job. I do not believe the test was made child-friendly. The test administrator was a stranger, and I do not believe that the questions would be repeated more than once. (think about that) .I believe it was a difficult test, so if you child passes, they really gave it their best and if not in the 90%, that child is still bright just to sit there to attempt that test.
Good luck parents!!
echoing the call for Philissa to try to get the morons at DOE to tell us what has been mailed and what hasn't and when we can all expect to hear.
as for the person with twins - why in the world would one score arrive but not the other unless one is above 90 and the other below
Regarding my daughter's 99% in District 14 in answer to the question is it definite, It is. She scored 98 on BSRA and 99 on Olsat. They definitely mucked up her choices section. I realized they only listed the school she is already in! She's in Pre-k, and I do love her school now and may keep her there anyway, but it doesn't make me feel confident in DOB... I called three times, each time either got cut off or voice mail. Ah well, I'm sure it'll sort itself out.
The only G/T program they have in District 14 is in a horrible neighborhood. I am glad they're going to make the testing mandated so kids don't fall through the cracks in this district.
Let's keep the postings going as to whether anyone receives letters today and whether those are above or below 90. For all of us asking whether anyone got below 90, let's remember the anxiety and post if it happens.
We got our score in the mail Thursday. District 1 with a 99% score. Relatively thick - four pages and a return envelope (cover letter, scores, application, application instructions). Option of the three citywide programs plus PS019 (Asher Levy)and PS110 (Florence Nightingale). Huge relief. Question now is how many scored in this percentile?
Anyone in district 01 received letter?
99 percentile. District 24. That means that I only have the three Manhattan options since there are no district options in Queens. And there's no busing.
I would also appreciate any feedback about the citywide schools: particularly NEST since they seem to have the most spaces and therefore he would be most likely to get in if I ranked that first.
Thanks.
Just spoke with DOE. She told me the above 90% were sent out first, but they have all been sent out now and just because the mail didn't arrive yesterday, it might just be taking a little longer to reach that zip.
The kids i spoke of in my last comment are UES... many the old PS 151... So if no T&G, then we wait a few more months to see where ours kids are placed thru the lottery.
A lot of confusion here -- we weren't expecting a 99 so we weren't thinking we'd have a decision to make now. Does anyone know if any schools will be offering tours now? Should we call DOE or call schools directly?
Also, lots of talk about sib preference filling up a lot of seats. So, for NEST, they will take a 97 sibling before a 99?
Our son got 99 OLSAT and 99 BSRA -- can we assume he has a good shot at NEST or no? We have other kids and schools and morning commute to consider.
Lastly, I can't believe how poorly implemented this whole mess is -- 45 minutes in the life of a 4 year old should not carry this much weight!!!
Got the District 1 result letter yesterday -- 98% -- with "11" choices listed. They consisted of two district schools (Asher Levy, Florence Nightingale) and each of the citywide schools listed THREE TIMES EACH. Why is this? How is one supposed to rank these? For example, do you put the school you want as choice number 1, 2 and 3?
I just feel that in todays day and age and in the best city in the world we have to go through this to get the best for our children. I think that it is disgraceful that PS 111 which was a failing school a couple of years ago is now going to have a G&T program. Is this being done to try and get children zoned for this school to go there?
Obsessive Mom - did the DOE person tell you if they mailed all the above 90s on the same day?
am wondering if anyone on upper east got letters yet?
So it's been confirmed that the 90+ went out first. Since I live about 8 blocks from our regional office, it's a fair guess we didn't make it this time. Not a surprise--my daughter had a horrible time with the teacher assigned to her, who was also very very rude to me. 4 year olds don't perform well with nasty teachers. Glad we put down that catholic school deposit!
Does anyone know how we get information about these schools, especially ones with new programs starting up?
Curriculum? Atmosphere? What makes the teachers qualified? Expectations placed on the kids?
I feel like we just had this bomb dropped on us with no way to assess anything. Why would I sign my kid up for a school I know nothing about except that is carries the vague "G&T" label over the neighborhood school we've toured and really like?
On the other hand, would I be denying my child a great opportunity simply because I don't have enough information to make a decision??
to the person who asked abt correlation btwn stanford binet and olsat/brsa. my kid got 99 on SB and 92 on O/B.
Just got off phone with G/T. The good news is my dtr's current school will have G/T program next year! Yay, it's three blocks away, and she loves the school, teacher. I love principal, teacher and environment. Apparently, her school choices aren't right since she scored above 97%. I'm not sweating it as I wasn't thrilled with idea of traveling far to take her to school since I also have a 21-month-old. However, I do want the clerical error corrected. Woman on phone assured me it would be.
I do think it'll be a better system once EVERYONE takes test. All kids in every borough should get a fair shot at such a program. I hope anyway...
The DOE is adding T&G programs to district 2 schools that need change. No doubt they are hoping to attract a more varied student body to these schools, as well as their highly involved parents. To add T&G programs to schools like 41 or 234 would be pointless - with their high scoring (and privileged) student body, parent funded arts programs and other forms of enrichment these schools already operate like T&G programs.
Don't get me wrong - as the parent of a public schooler as well as a teacher in district three, I am no fan of the DOE. But in this case, they are clearly looking to improve schools for the greatest number of children, rather than the select few. Many of the comments I read on this blog sound like the rather petulant complaints of people who are used to calling the shots a service economy. People - the DOE represents the interests of hundreds of thousands of children - not just yours or mine. In other words, you are not the only person in the class!
Kids can and do have a great, enriched experience learning experience at a "mediocre" school. Kids who score below the 90% percentile are not doomed to academic failure. In my opinion (an opinion shared by many experienced teachers), the OLSTAT and BRSA tests are lousy testing tools - really only test how a child a child's readiness for abstract, paper and pencil work, not their ability to think creatively or problem solve.
Personally, I would rather have my child in a heterogeneous classroom with an experienced, loving teacher than in the a highly pressured environment like NEST or Anderson. Right now, my husband and I are leaning towards keeping my son in our neighborhood school (where he is happy and challenged) rather than shipping him off to a T&G program elsewhere.
Here's a radical notion, what if, regardless of a child's score all of us as parents made a commitment to improving our local schools? Now that would be radical.....
Got district 3 results in yesterday's (Thurs. 24th) mail: 95th OLSAT, 98th BSRA.
Anybody get your mail yet today, Friday? Was it there?
In answer to earlier question. District 3 listed 6 schools:
009, 145, 163, 166, 185, 191
anyone get mail today?
OK everybody...lets make some noise about this. There is a reporter with the daily news who recently wrote an artical about the G & T program "Gifted and irritated" We spoke to her this morning and gave her the info regarding not enough Queens programs in our area, minimal information, little time to tour schools, etc. Her name is Carrie Melago and she can be contacted by calling the general info number at the daily news or through cmelago@dailynews.com
Lets band together...make some noise and get some answers that we deserve.
were they mailed from the district offices or the G & T headquarters?
Hi everyone -- I am sending out an email to a DOE spokesperson now and will ask the questions you've suggested. I will post the results as soon as I get them!
And anonymous 10:44 a.m. -- use Insideschools to read up on the schools you've been offered. Read our reviews and the parent/teacher/student comments as well. That's a good place to start. We'll know soon about whether schools will also be holding open houses.
I'm with Jennem. I knew I should not put all my eggs in one basket and my hubby and I prepared ourselves by putting a deposit on a good catholic. We were hoping our daughter would score high enough to make it into the program, but it looks like that's an impossibility right about now. Well, to those of us whose children did not make it in this year, keep your head high, keep practicing, and see ya next year for some more abuse from the DOE!!!
Could you find out why the citywide schools were listed in my kid's application form three times each (along with 2 district 1 schools)? How do we rank?
Frankly, I'm amazed that, given all the bungling and missed dates and horrible communication, the DOE could actually successfully pull off the mailing of 90+ scores only on a single given day.
To paraphrase Frank Costanza, I never would have thought they were smart enough to hatch that kind of scheme.
Does anyone get information of the new G&T program of Q21 and Q 32?
How about these two schools?
Thank you!
All together the 90% & up kids aren't a huge number to mail -- isn't it 1500 or 2000, right? Gosh, the kids could have stuffed the envelopes.
My doorman says the mailman is standing in front of my building ... drumroll ...
I am in district 29 (Queens) and received my letter yesterday. My daughter was in the 98%. She has a choice of the Citywide programs and 2 district programs. The 2 district programs are far from my home and the overall school does not score well on test (only 1 gifted class). I live 2 blocks from District 26 which has several GTs. In fact, one of the schools in 3 blocks away. My child can walk to it. How can I get my child placed in the other district school?
I am in Egpt and just spoke with my wife and our daughter apprarently is 90%+ - she will fax me the letter. NOTE: Thank you Inside Schools for providing us parents with such a useful forum. I am sending another contribution and encourage others to do the same. (Inside Schools is a non-profit organization that needs every contribution, no matter how small.)
Chris
I just was told by the DOE office on 7th Ave. that they did NOT only mail out the 90+ letters yesterday. What the hell is going on and does anyone there know? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1233 anon - they must have mailed out the 90+ on wed and probably the others on thursday. that is why the idiot told you what htey did.
Hey, 12:22PM...did you get good news?? Please give us some hope...
Just watched the mailman sort all the mail -- nothing there!
What are the dimensions of the acceptance envelopes? Mailman said bigger dimensions could come in delivery later in day.
I am apoplectic.
did anyone receive a letter good or bad today (Friday)
Lori Bednar - We are in the same situation - in district 14, daughter got the required score but they did not list the citywide options. I have sent an email to someone I had contact with before from DOE - no word yet.
It looks like PS 132 will now have a gifted class.
I just wrote email to Carrie Melago about Queens (district 28)as frastrated adviced. however, I don't think it will make any difference for my daughter.
Did anyone receive the letter for enter 2nd grade?
Tks
After not getting anything again today I spoke to someone in Operations at OSEPO & she said that ALL of the letters were mailed out Thursday morning in no particular order. They said to call them on Monday if you still haven't received.
Can anyone verify that PS10 was one of the options in D15? And what were the others? Thank you. (99% in D13, whose options are 3,9,20 & 282)
Did anyone in Riverdale get anything?
It seems like we won't be making a cut-off, but it would be nice to get the letter already. There was nothing with today's mail.
Nothing in our box..... My daughter made it to round 2 Hunter.... Nothing in my friends box (her daughter should have made it to round 2!)Nothing from my friend whose daughter was aced the sample test.
I think the 151 district is being purposely tortured!!
I am doubting what I was told when I spoke with the woman at the DOE. Seems they give the answers they think you want to hear.
Totally insane. I was told be someone in the G&T office today that they DID mail out the 90% scores first and that if we didn't get it yesterday or today that we most likely were not in. And that they were still mailing out the results for the kids who did not score in and that everyone would receive by the 30th. Why do they all have a different story?? Anyway, resolved myself to thinking that we aren't in and made my peace with it. It's a beautiful day and I'm going to go and spend time with my beautiful, intelligent daughter and enjoy her for who she is not what she scores on a test. We still have no real options for K, but I am washing my hands of the DOE. This insanity will kill me if I keep obsessing.
Does anyone know of anyone who got below 90%? If someone had got such a letter we would have heard from our friends by now.
3:14PM...you couldn't have said it better. I just called my daughter (I'm at work)and just hearing her voice asking me if I was bringing home some ice cream made me feel better. And don't feel bad for obsessing...we all just want the best opportunities for our children...I think that's worth alittle sweat, don't you ;o)
After much thought, the letters (whether they represent those who got 90% or greater or not) must have been mailed on Wednesday -- not Thursday as reported by OSEPO -- since parents started receiving them yesterday (Thursday).
A friend who's a Para for the schools said any time they mail anything it's by alpha order. I still don't know what to think since I ran home for lunch (a 20+ mile round-trip) and all my mailbox contained was junk mail. :( Still hoping it's because our last name starts with 'R'!
As for me, I know the trip home was pathetic. This whole fiasco has been pathetic, and it's all been for naught, since Queens doesn't even start G&T until 1st grade. Good thing I just found that out within the last week or so! Uuuggh! I just want this nightmare to end already so I can figuring out where we go from here!
I've heard maybe 1 or 2 people post from District 25, and I KNOW that 98 children qualified. Has anyone from D25 gotten their results either yesterday or today?
As a P.S. to my previous post (above), I also wrote to the reporter at the Daily News. Doesn't seem fair that Queens doesn't get G&T until 1st grade, when other boroughs and citywide schools seem to think it's important enough to start the kids in Kindergarten. WHY???? Are we less affluent, less important??? Completely unfair!
to 3:50. it is an email of Queens Borough President,Helen M. Marshall
info@queensbp.org
you can write to her also.
Is there a bus from Nest to Brooklyn? If not, how do Brooklyn parents do it?
Thank you, Irina. I just sent the same email to the Queens Borough President's office. I appreciate your assistance in getting Queens parents heard on this issue. :)
My son qualified for Hunter (98th percentile on SB) and we haven't rec'd a letter yet in District 2 (10019). Is it possible he didn't qualify? How could that be? And what are my options for appealing this?
Nothing again today--District 3--so hope has officially died for us! Here's hoping the lottery pans out, and if not, Ascension it will be.
There will be appeal instructions with the denial letter, or so it says on the DOE website. We may have to do that as well. My daughter had a horrible, rude teacher for the test who treated her (and myself) badly. She obviously did not want to be working on a Saturday and it really showed.
Does anyone believe the appeal process will lead anywhere? I'm extremely skeptical given how this whole process was handled but it's all I have.
Does the DOE have a basis for appeal for which they'll reconsider a child or is it a case by case basis? Just wondering what the best case would be!
To anonymous who asks "as for the person with twins - why in the world would one score arrive but not the other unless one is above 90 and the other below"
I really don't know...however, they are both very bright little boys. The truth is, none of us really know the procedure used when the first wave of results were mailed. Thus, it is most probable that there are quite a few acceptances still to be rec'd.
I say to everyone, "Ya gotta have faith", in the words of George Michaels. I know I do. However, if it doesn't work out, I have a 2nd, 3rd, and am working on a 4th option.
is there anyone who got a letter on Friday that didn't on Thursday???
as for all the comments about what DOE people told you, forget it, they either don't know or are making stuff up at this point. There is some partially trained monkey that is handling our kids futures right now and he is off for the weekend already so don't rely on anything anyone over there tells you.
Does anyone know how the school rankings will work. If we rank a citywide school 1 or 2 but don't get in - will we be guarenteed to get our 1st district choice listed as 3. Or do we run the risk of not getting into our top choice district school since that isn't our 1st choice.
I am only willing to consider one of the G&T schools in our district but would really prefer one of the citywide schools. I don't know how realistic our chances are for getting into a citywide school since (as ridiculous as it sounds) my DD only scored in the 98%tile.
So we are not the only ones with no letter. From what I see on here, that probably means a score lower than 90. How this is possible for a child with a 99 and a 95 on the other 2 tests (Sb and ERB) I don't know. I certainly tells me something is rotton with this OLSAT adn possibly the whole G&T thing. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. From what it sounds like, the public schools are not well run and especially the G&T. Seems like a lot of lying and zero accountability. As a parent I find that very troublesome on the part of anyone I'm entrusting my child with.
OK...To everybody in Queens, I am in district 25, my daughter is entering Kindergarten and scored in the 98th percentile. I want to make a united front on the fact that there are no new "K" programs in our district. I spoke with people from the G & T program and the office of student enrollment. I was told that althought the DOE web site states "if there are more than 10 children who qualify, a new program will be added" that the term "new program" means that it will be an expansion of an already 1st grade gifted program. It will not be an added "k" classroom for G7T, despite that fact that 29 kids qualified at the "k" level in district 25.
SO IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A UNITED FRONT, AND MAKE A LOT OF NOISE ABOUT THIS, I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH LOCAL POLITICIANS AND NEWS REPORTERS BUT WE NEED TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE GET ON BOARD.
I am willing to be a point man...so please......contact me at my e-mail, lets get as many people on board with this and make an agressive, united move to change this system which is failing our children.
please contact me at
wjm1066@yahoo.com
Lets make a change for our children in Queens
Anybody else from District 27 in Queens? It is the one Q district that has G & T starting in Kindergarten. My son got combined 92% but all the schools are on the other side of the district (South Ozone and Rockaway) - nothing in Richmond Hill.
We never got a letter telling us when/where the testing site was (I finally called and found out that way). Here's my question--has anyone received a letter who also didn't get anything in the mail previous to this?? I'm wondering if some of us slipped between the cracks...
If my child doesn't score high enough to get into a G and T, and was also waitlisted at every school we applied to, then what?? I will not send him to our zoned school, it would ruin him (very scary). I cannot believe that there is a chance he will not go to kindergarten!!! Any suggestions?
Give it a break Queens your not the only forgotten borough - Staten Island does not have a K program either.
Dear wjm1066: I am also in District 25. I have not received any results as of yet, so I don't know if my daughter has even qualified for the G&T program on ANY level. However, it was my rant above about there being a lack of G&T beginning in Kindergarten in Queens -- whether they score at the 90 pctl. or at the 97th pctl. I cannot fathom why they would claim to be revamping the G&T program, yet let such disparity remain, where some districts DO have it and others are being deprived of it. I wrote emails today to both the reporter for the Daily News and to the Queens Borough President's office. However, I don't think that's really gonna change anything for the September 2008 school year. This came up at the Queens meeting in November (which I unfortunately missed), but was just mentioned as something that was being contemplated for future implementation. My friend was told the same thing during her conversation with OSEPO today. After this nightmarish experience with the entire G&T process and the results, I can only assume that they'll implement this when hell freezes over, or whenever the mood strikes them, whichever comes first. Obviously, we don't matter as much as the Manhattanites or residents of other boroughs that have citywide program or G&T kindergartens! My daughter who has been fluently reading before age 4.5 and figures out how to spell words all by herself obviously doesn't matter at all to the DOE. She's gonna sit with her thumb up her butt in a regular kindergarten while other students are learning the alphabet for the 1st time...
The part that had me thinking that my Pre-K'er would go into a G&T kindergarten in Queens was the PowerPoint presentation with Final Recommendations of the Panel. It stated that if a child scored over the 95 percentile (at that time, that was the qualifying score), that they would be guaranteed a seat in the G&T program for either Kindergarten or 1st grade. I thought that since they opened the test to Pre-K children this year, then naturally, if they "got in", they would be guaranteed a seat in a G&T kindergarten, and that those testing in kindergarten would then start the G&T program in 1st grade... It was only within the last two weeks that I now saw on the DOE website that Queens G&T starts in 1st grade...
What then, is the point of Queens children taking the test in Pre-K, when they haven't even had any real school experience! Now, someone has said that anyone getting into G&T in Queens will probably have to TAKE THE TEST AGAIN NEXT YEAR! I could not believe that -- then WHY would someone in Queens take the test at all -- just to get into the Citywide schools? Even if my child scores at 99 and qualifies, how am I supposed to get her there? There's no transportation offered to those in other boroughs! If this is true, then we've all been put through this misery FOR NOTHING!
By the way, I think it's your post and maybe someone else's in District 25 on this thread whose children have qualified. That's it? Could this be a sign that there will be more victories to come? Perhaps our mail is just simply delayed...
CORRECTION: 98 children qualified for G&T in D25 -- the 29 children you're quoting scored in the 97th percentile or above.
Does anyone know the placement procedure? My daughter got four choices in the district program. I only like two of them. If she cannot get into either of them, can she stay at her current school? Please advise...Thanks!!!
I am at district 26.
SDU
Does anyone know if G&T starts in K or 1st grade in District 11?
To respond to anonymous at 9:38 pm: We never received a notification letter on our daughter's testing site(Since she does not go to kindergarten but applying for 1st grade G&T, I was very concerned about not having received one. I went to the Queens Borough Office to check a week before the final testing week (could not provide us with any information, just confirmed our mailing address) ended up emailing and calling the main G&T office to get the detail a couple days before her scheduled date, which was the very last day.) but did receive her testing score on Thursday.
Did anyone in D2 north of 86th street get results yesterday (or today?)
Seems no one anywhere got results today... at least to deduce from my friends, this site and Urban Baby.
District 15 also has a large # of qualifying children and no Citywide G&T schools.
No letter yet District 21 so I am going to assume that she probably did not qualify.
I might just kick myself too because if I remember correctly, you could only appeal right after the test or something like that. School didnt tell us until day before that the test would be the next day. Then it didnt happen that day because the tester "ran out of time" and the test was then given the next day.
The funny thing is I wasnt even going to have my daughter tested. But her teacher encouraged us to saying she was by far the best student in the class.
Staten Island people....I see that you have no program either and agree that your kids are being failed as well. Come on people...we have until May 9th to make some real noise about this!!!!!! I am willing to front a move to improve this system but we need to band together to do this. Please contact me so we can get this going. This blog is excellent but unless we join together, we are not being as productive as we can.
Contact me at
wjm1066@yahoo.com
Who could have ever imagined that the DOE would actually for once finally get its act together on something with this G&T process and be able to mail the under 90 scores days after the qualifying scores? Truly a sadistic act.
hi, where is everyone getting all these stats (about how many people qualified in which district for each grade etc.) ? i'd love to know, for example, how many qualified for citywide for first grade next year to see what my daughter's (98%) chances are. thank you!!
There's no K program in the Bronx either. I'm actually OK with it since the kids are going to be much more confident and test better when they are a little older.
I wouldn't want my 5-yr old to sit on the bus going to Manhattan for a G&T program, so whether or not we make a cut-off this time is almost irrelevant. We were also encouraged by the nursery school teacher to test, so we did.
I wouldn't be bashing DOE all that much. They are under tremendous pressure to do something, and I think the fact that the testing is open now to the whole city as opposed to those who were willing to spend enormous amount of money on private psychologists who tested for Anderson and Hunter, is a great leap forward. It wasn't exactly a smooth operation, and there will be always tons of people who are very unhappy, I think the thought process and the intentions of Board of Ed were good.
We're still waiting for our letter though. :) Who knows, if I get worked up enough, maybe if we score at the 99th percentile and get into NEST, I might consider quitting my job and drive the kids from Riverdale to Chinatown.
our bad news came today
postmarked yesterday
doesn;t jive with his abilities and work at school or his Hunter test
I am at a loss
What if his test giver was the cause?
What are alternatives
We are devastated
I only want my son to be challenged to his full ability
To Anonymous at 9:21, the stats of number of children by district and their scoring (90 pctl, at 95th pctl. and 97 pctl.)are from the Department of Ed, and can be found on this site at:
http://insideschools.org/nv/NV_GT_4_15_apr08-chart.php
Hope it's helpful...
So I guess OSEPO didn't really know when they said all the letters went out at the same time.
Just got my letter & my daughter got a 72% -- I am pretty surprised. She got a 95% on the BSRA, but tanked on the OLSAT w/ a 60%.
Our local (underperforming) school has a gifted program, which I assumed we'd get into, but now I am feeling really screwed in terms of options as we are wait listed at the "good" public schools...
My daughter has a November birthday -- I thought that would help once they figured that in, but I guess not...
I received our letter today from the DOE. My son scored in the 89th percentile and was not offered a spot in a G&T school.
That said, and after having a cup of coffee and getting over myself, there are a couple of things to remember.
I am a mother of four sons. My oldest is 26 and the youngest is 6. Both (big and little) have been professionally tested. Both are gifted.
This has not made their lives easier or harder than their smart, funny middle brothers, just different.
My young son's public school knows his intelligence and has been so wonderful at challenging him as well as nurturing his love for learning. They had him tested as a matter of course. He qualified last year, but my husband and I really love his school and chose to keep him there. We would've made the same choice this year.
I guess what I'm saying is that although these scores and school choices seem to be a matter of life and death when parents are waiting for the mail, in the long run they don't weigh so much.
I got caught up when I opened the letter. I felt slightly ashamed, let down. I made excuses like, "Oh, I remember that he didn't eat a good breakfast on testing day."
Angry. My son is passed over because of one point?
How dare they!
I felt defensive and protective.
This is such bullshit isn't it? Making parents think and act in ways we would never dream of.
My good wishes to all of us and our children.
received letter this morning, score below 90
To answer anonymous, 9:21a, the stats are provided if you go to the article headed "District 2, 3 & 22 Top Qualifiers..." under News & Views, you can click on a link to see a breakdown of the number of students qualifying in each district. Hope it helps!
In response to 8:50am, you can find the statistic by clicking on the What's New ( right hand column of Insideschools.org)the first article that says "Dist 2,3,22 top ...", go to the second to last paragraph of this article and click on the stats. My daughter is also entering first grade next fall and scored 99%. As I understand it, for first grade, they will fill whatever available seats by the highest ranked score first. However, I am not sure how sibling policy will affect that.
I have also left a message for a "Kim" @ DOE to inquire why the Citywide schools were listed more than once and am waiting for a response. I assume that for first grade I should be ranking those that indicate "limited seats".
FYI, my daughter is in a kindergarten district 20 G&T program (P.S. 176 Ovington) and her teacher is absolutely fantastic. I am so delighted with her devotion to challenge her students everyday and the progress my daughter has made. Most of the topics that she taught this year coincidentally mirrored those of NEST. I am grateful that she got into the G&T program which was my last choice in terms of school, last year. My hope was that she would get into Shuang Wen. So this year I educate myself about Citywide G&T programs, had attended the open house for NEST in the fall and will be applying for entrance to this school.
I would have my daughter remain in Brooklyn, but based on what I have seen, I believe the Citywide G&T will offer more than those in the Districts.
Anyone disagree ?
Below-90 letters were apparently mailed (postmarked) yesterday and are arriving today. Not home to get ours, but that's what I read on Urban Baby from quite a few people.
D19.. received my below 90 score today. Although my son's birthday falls tha last few days in December, I do not know how he was graded for his age. I am looking at the two scores, my daughter's who score above 90 and my son below. I do not understand the results. Who can help with explaining the results to parents?
can anyone advise on how to get into the lottery for a "good" public school?
Also, does anyone know anything about the appeal process? The results don't jive with my son's Stanford Binet score (he qualified for Hunter). The Hunter tester told me that based on his abilities, he would definitely score high on the OLSAT. He said the score might be off by a few points but our score was off by A LOT! Any advice on how to appeal this?
To the parent who said"I guess what I'm saying is that although these scores and school choices seem to be a matter of life and death when parents are waiting for the mail, in the long run they don't weigh so much."
Well, you also said you have the enormous privilege of a wonderful public school he is already in. One you had no intention of removing him from.
For those of us with unsafe and horrible zoned schools, it means a little more.
So according to the postmark of 3/25 (yesterday) the below 90 letters were sent out after the others. this means that I was personally lied to by 3 Dept. of Education employees (2 at the G&T office). Our zoned oublic is reputed to be "ok" but the lying is not acceptable from people to whome we enturst our child. We will be leaving the city if a viable alternative cannot be found to NYC public school.
Just got ours, district 2. Our 5 yr old son scored 85. He scored 99 two years in a row on the ERBs. Totally shocked.
I don't understand how a child would qualify for Hunter, but not for this. Shouldn't these tests, while different, provide consistent results? Or is it the matter of not quite-qualified testers?
Our tester was a kindergarten teacher from our school who , at the same time, tested the kids from her own class. Is that fair? Anyone else have this experience?
We didn't get anything! Is there anyone else out there with NO letter so far? We live very close to the mailing office.
I agree with the 3:36 PM remark and the 3:49 comment. My child also qualified for Hunter and scored 81% on this test (99% on the BRAC portion and 65% on the OLSAT). Something isn't right. The tests should absolutely have consistent results. According to our Hunter tester, you would expect a child who scores high on one to do so on the other. While the scores might not be exactly the same, they should be in the same range.
I'm also in agreement with the 4:18 poster. It is totally unfair that some children get tested at their familiar school, even more so that some get tested by their familiar teacher. My son got tested at an unfamiliar school by a total stranger. The difference might not be great but those kids who are tested in their own schools should definitely have an edge.
Hi ed from district 14, did you hear from your doe contact? Odd that our kids qualified for citywide, but they weren't listed. Maybe it was a glitch because of the new g/t program at PS132. It hasn't even been announced yet.... I'm happy with the school, just would like to see what her options would have been.
Lori
To the parent who wrote that they have a child in a horribly zoned/unsafe school:
What I meant by "in the long run they don't weigh so much." is in the long, long run. As I said, my oldest son is 26 years old.
Of course each parent wants a safe and excellent education for their children.
How can a child get 99 ERB, 98 SB and bomb this OLSAT? Something is simply not right. The BRS was great. The other part... I wish I knew what went on in that room.
Where on the DOE site (or anywhere for that matter) is the info about appealing?
Thanks,
BRSA 95/OLSAT 60
Looking for feedback on Anderson and TAG.
Is one favored over the other and
any info on possible tours before
the 5/9 deadline.
Any info is appreciated
Our envelope didn't include information about requesting a copy of the child's test. We're in the same boat others have alluded to -- a 98th percentile Bracken and OLSATs so low I'd rather not repeat them here. My kid cruised through the practice test and completed the actual test in <30 minutes, so, yeah, I don't exactly feel closure right now.
It's 45 minutes in the life of a 4 or 5 year old.
Our son missed the cutoff for Hunter by quite a bit, but literally missed nothing on this assessment. Zero wrong. In a different borough, strange school with a total stranger testing him, for those looking for excuses.
Mostly, I think it's because he's a little kid and little kids don't always do what we think they're going to do.
My daughter's overall score was 98.
What caught my attention while reviewing the OLSAT score was that she had non-verbal score of 93, although the other two categories were at 99. That section is supposed to evaluate their reasoning ability. That puzzled us a bit, since we felt that was her strength.
My daughter then told us that there was one section she did not understand which row of pictures the teacher was talking about before questions started on "the group test (OLSAT)."
I am guessing that was the section she missed.
Fortunately, she scored high enough to qualify for the District G&T school we have been hoping for her to get in, even taking the test at a strange school/teacher, I could easily see how some of other bright 4,5 year olds could miss or get confused on questions in a group setting like that even if they are actually capable of answering correctly, resulting in a score that does not reflect their true ability.
does anyone know if the score results get sent to the kids schools if they are currently in k? just wondering if our d's school will know how high she scored and if they will give away her spot in the cct class.
Results came today. Thin envelope.
OLSAT 52%. I guess I was delusional thinking my child should be in an enrichment program.
Although, she did get 96% in the BSRA.... 98% in SB and 98% in Brigance. She's too young to go to pivate school next year, so no ERBs.
I was told by the director of her preK that despite being the youngest, she was the most advanced in her class.
But the DOE seems to have a test system that finds her well below average (Do you think I should request a remedial program!... My math ranks her by that score with a significantly below average intelligence)
I felt comforted in that some of the more advanced kids she is friendly with as far as the city is concerned, are apparently not as bright as thought to be (or assessed as on different tests) Hopefully, they will be with her in kindergartern...if we get lotteried (PS 151) to the same school!
We got our scores for my son and daughter, and were left equally confused ... I blogged about it here:
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/
If we had any other "good" options these results wouldn't be so disturbing (very high BRSA; very low OLSAT). I assumed we would qualify for one of our district programs & historically we could & we would have her teacher's rec as part of the assessment. In trying to level the playing field & making this purely quantitative a lot of bright kids have been disqualified. Geez for college you have a couple shots & it is about a little more than your SATs.
Like many of the schools here in Brooklyn that have G & T programs our local school is underperforming & the G & T has been what has attracted good students in this transitional/gentrifying neighborhood. So now we can't even be in a program where last year 42% of the class got under 80& on the test.
I bet this year and next will see a mass exodus of the middle class to the burbs. I wonder if Bloomberg et al really think this city can operate with no middle class. Are we not necessary for a functioning economy? While I am an advocate for congestion pricing, maybe this is all part of his master plan -- give us crappy schools so we have to move & then charge us when we drive back into the city...
Has anyone received results for a child applying to a 2nd grade program? When she initially tested I received a letter stating more children applied than seats would be available and we would be notified should space open up. Thanks!
i called about the repetion of choices in the ranking and s poke to kim. She said to ignore it and took my name and number.I asked her if it was a mistake. She said just rank the schools and not the duplicate. PLEASE let me know if this is the same info you get.
Daisy
For those waiting for older grades, you may not hear until summer or even right before school starts in the fall since it may be that long before the schools know if there are available seats.
My son scored 95 percent on the Olsat and 83 on Bracken. It looks (from these comments) like there is a trend correlating high Bracken scores with lower Olsat scores. Can anyone here explain the difference between what the two assessment tools are measuring?
My husband said I should let it go because luckily my son scored high enough to get into a G&T program. I am still angry about this whole process. My son was tested at his own school which is a positive but came home and said he did not hear the teacher clearly at all times or did not understand her at all times. I spoke with the teacher who gave the test and she was nasty to me. She stated she spoke loud and claerly. She then patronized me by stating it was a hard test and not everyone was going to do well on it. My son scored very well on OlSAt but not as well on BSRA. I know he knows everything on that test and has since about 2.
Bracken assesses school readiness, (color recognition, counting ability, recognition of uppercase and lower case letters, shapes, etc) while OLSAT test for giftedness, children have to make associations with 'picture puzzles' so the two tests are testing different attributes.
Bracken:
http://www.harcourt-au.com/default.asp?action=article&ID=250
OLSAT: measures HIGHER level thinking:
NYC DOE feels that both combine will help THEM determine which kids will succeed in these GT program.
Parents w/ younger kids applying to these GT program do NOT understand:
Had 3 kids in three GT classes (all 2 years apart, oldest attending HS come Sept 2008), I see and understand:
In a typical GT class of 20 -30, some kids (maybe 10% - 15%) do not (or can not) keep up with the work (speed or understanding) after 2 - 4 years:
Problem: School/Principal cannot remove these kids w/o parental permission.
This type of combine testing MAY NOT be perfect, but does seems to be a good indication of which kids should be in these program and which kids should not.
IF parents THINK they know better than OSEPO (NYC DOE), they should get involved with their PTA, SLT or Local school board (CEC) and have their voice heard.
Good Luck to all:
Been there, done that, lost alot of hair in the process, lost alot of sleep. Kids all turned out FINE in the end.
BEST to get involved and make the school better while your kid(s) are there.
My daughter is entering 3rd grade in the fall and I already got her results (99) and the schools list. The list just says limited seats for all the schools.
District 2. Got our results on Saturday. Odd thing is that while he scored 99.7 on the Stanford Binet IQ test, 98 on the ERBs, 99 on the BSRA, he scored 43 on the OLSATs. He got into Friends and the Village Community School but we were hoping to go to a public G&T program. It looks like something went wrong with the test. Does anyone know if there is any retesting?
Prior to the testing, we were explained that Bracken evaluates if a child knows the basic concepts that are required in school setting study, but OLSAT measures giftedness, which is pretty much an IQ test. You may be able to help your child get higher Bracken score to an extent, but except adequate sleep and balanced meal before the test, very limited help can be given to score high on OLSAT test since it is designed to gauge what they are born with. So there may be a significant gap between Bracken and OLSAT scores, in the case where a child is growing up in a nurturing, stimulating environment, therefore very advanced for his/her age, but not necessarily being "gifted."
To Anonymous @ 4:57.
Your explanation of the Bracken OLSAT
gap makes sense, but what about those of us whose kids scored very high on the SB and extremely low on the OLSAT?
Sounds to me like Anonymous @ 4:01 very likely has a gifted child.
The OLSAT test does not necessarily measure giftedness in 4-year-olds. The current format of the OLSAT isn't particularly appropriate for that age group, and there are too many variables in it.
I do not like that some people here are implying that others' children are less or more gifted based on one test. Yes, possibly they are...and a child that tests highly is most likely gifted...but a child that tests poorly, once, at age 4, can in no way be deemed un-gifted without significant further evidence.
To Anonymous 6:35pm: The explanation given made sense to us too at the time and still now, but considering what we are dealing with are 4,5, or 6 year olds, (and we all know how they are sometimes), one-time testing for admission itself has limitations in accurately identifying all the qualifying kids. It is easy to see some of the children unfortunately do not relate well with their assigned teachers, not feeling well, or because of their age, they cannot express themselves well during test when they do not simply hear the teacher and so on. But making the multi-phase thorough testing might not be practical by making the process extremely expensive to conduct. (maybe when the testing becomes mandatory next year, they will have enough budget to create more flexible re-testing procedure.... but that will be too late for many of us.). I personally wish DOE accepts independent testing results also for re-consideration, but that will be a problem also by giving the second-chance only to families who can afford such an expensive test... They did offer a dispute process immediately following the test, to request a retesting, but we were not allowed to be present at the testing to notice any problem right there.) Overall, I believe DOE's intention was good in providing the uniformed citywide testing procedure though. by Anonymous @ 4:57.
Scored 99%. Does anyone know if the three citywides will be requiring an interview in the admissions process?
What bothers me is the disparity in instructions given to the test administrators. My son was told at his site that he could just skip a question if it was difficult. He claims to have skipped 8. He finished the test in 35 minutes and at his site all children were out within 45 minutes. While his overall score was high, he missed 10 total. At another site, a friend told me that all children were in with testers for at least one hour. Testers spoke slowly and told children to take their time.
Just got a letter ...96 percentile...District 28...however no schools were listed on the application form....any idea what to do?
just made it with 90% in district 2. Only one of the listed schools is located near us making the 5 others simply too far. I'm wondering which of the 6 would be most popular and if parents would consider sending their children on the bus service to attend others further away?
my son, entering k in queens, received a 96% on the test. i am proud but disappointed that he has no options just because of where we live. i am writing to daily news about this problem with queens. also the good charter schools-3 of them- are all given preference to district 30. how does the middle class do well for their child??!!
JB, was your letter in Saturday's mail? I am still waiting results, and have assumed my child did not make the cutoff. Please tell me there is still hope!
to 8:53
We are in the same district. Your child doesn't qualify for citiwide (rate is below 97) and our district don't have gifted K. so, try next year.
Does anyone have a breakdown of how many kids are in the 99 and 98 percentiles? I would love to see the figures to know what our son's chances are of actually getting into a citywide program (the only G&T option that exists for us). Thanks.
I think it is absolutely ridiculous to be testing a 4-5 year old like this and basing everything on a single test. When I was in school (not in NY) we were not tested until 2nd grade. Everyone was tested. Then, starting in 3rd grade those of us who were deemed "gifted" by the test were given enrichment. Waiting until 2nd grade for such a test seems much fairer for a number of reasons. Kids will have more maturity in general and be able to better perform to their true abilities. Plus, all children will be tested in a familiar environment-- their own school. And, differences in pre-school experiences that may affect performance will have somewhat evened out by then.
As of my this post....this blog has been posted on 197 times. I have read many many comments from families like myself, who have had a child gifted for a "K" program, but there is no program. (I am in district 25) available. The DOE website states that new programs will be made available and that every child who qualifies is GUARANTEED a seat in a program.
With that said, I have stated that I am willing to front a united effort in contacting our councilman, Senators, the media, etc. etc. but only 1 parent has contacted me. This blog is an excellent source of information, as well as a nice forum to vent...but come everbody....lets do something about this other then venting on this blog. We have until May 9th to make some real noise...the more people that get actively involved, the better our chances.
Please contact me at
wjm1066@yahoo.com
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