Unscrambling the OSEPO Omelette
After a long wait for news from the DOE, it seems that some parents are beginning to hear about pre-K appeals and kindergarten gifted and talented placement. Some are getting good news, others, not so much. But if OSEPO has moved into a more responsive mode, parents can hope that many of the past weeks' nagging questions just might be resolved.
Of course, some of the responses we've heard about raise yet more questions, like the comment from MaruG, who said that a polite, cooperative OSEPO rep gave her a mid-August placement date for g+t kindergarten, because her child's application had gone awry. (We're checking on this one.)
Think of this post as a wide net: If you've had word on admissions or appeals from the DOE or OSEPO, please let us know, especially if you have questions or if, as Bronx Shrink mentioned, information you've gotten verbally from OSEPO (by phone) doesn't square with written communications.
11 comments:
My guess is that G&T placements have been made and letters are going out soon. Applications that went missing will have to be sorted out with the applicants that take the OLSAT over the summer, and they will get available spots after initial group registers.
I got the exact same email as Bronx Shrink (I'm in Queens)... totally confusing, since my OSEPO rep gave me the appeals email as the one to use. Now she said I'll "be getting a phone call," which has yet to come. This is totally confusing, and I feel like I'm back at square one. Mine is a sibling issue, by the way, because of a data entry mistake by the DOE (my street name was spelled incorrectly).
G&T kindergarten.
My son had a problems with BSRA scoring. The appeals written, e-mail, phone - didn't do anything. We ended up going through his school, P.S. 247 in Brooklyn. The school was able to get in touch with G&T office and open investigation. After not hearing anything for a month, we visited the school again last Tuesday. The school placed another call to G&T office. Next day (Wednesday)school was told, that my son will have to retake the text, most likely the week of June 9th, and that office of G&T was communicating with us constantly (!). School representative and us were baffled at that statement, since neither party heard ANYTHING from G&T for the past month in any form.
This Friday (2 days after call from G&T), my son informed me after school that the teacher was giving him a test. After a couple questions for my son, I figured he was given BSRA. So now we are going to wait for score and new results.
At this point I am not even going to bother call G&T office myself, and will coordinate any communication through my son's school.
Many thanks to the parent representative at P.S. 247 for moving this process alone.
helen,
>it seems that some parents are beginning to hear about pre-K appeals and kindergarten gifted and talented placement.
Is this mean, G&T K placement actually went out to some parents? Could you clarify??
I just spoke to someone at the office enrollment in Manhattan to inquire when we can expect the G&T placement letters. The women responded that some letters have already been sent and "still be sent as we speak". I live in B'klyn (District 20) and so far have not received nothing yet.
Has anyone received it ??
We have not heard about G&T placement in Districts 21 or 22 and the decision making about G&T in District 21 is totally arbitrary - no rhyme or reason as to selection process. So can one of the inside school bloggers please clarify how one appeals - It seems the DOE must show us cut off numbers for each school, how the tests were graded - why they don't have waiting lists and who the appropriate appeals person is. We need clarification. Thanks
dr monty, are the programs your child applied for testing- or audition-based, or are decisions made by reviewing academic records, etc.? There are always criteria for admission; generally, schools rank kids by their test scores or GPAs, depending, and go down the lists in descending order. (Not sure, as you don't reference specific schools.) On the appeals question, it's sad but true that some districts do not have formal appeals, or wait lists, or the obligation to explain their choices. Occasionally, families find local politicians to be helpful, but it's a wash, often as not, and the whole process can be awfully hard on your kid.
Casey-
I to appealed G & T & asked to see my daughter's score -- they haven't got back to me at all. What kind of problem did you have with your son's BSRA scores? Any idea who at G & T I should call?
My daughter's OLSAT was graded a 00% on her letter, and I did not bother with calling -- I went down there first thing the next morning. It took two weeks of waiting and checking in with the G&T office, but eventually we got her real score -- 99%. The point of this post is that you can NOT get anything done on the phone! You have to get face-to-face. And the people at G&T, while not quickly effective, were understanding, accessible and ultimately very helpful.
Also FYI re above posts: in District 2, no G&T letter today.
i haven't heard that anyone has heard back about pre-K problems yet..have they?
To Anonymous at 12.15 pm.
My son BSRA score ended up being zero with breakdown going like this:
Total number of questions asked: 88. Total number of correct answers: 98
Total score: 0%
Colors: Total number of questions asked: 11. Total number of correct answers: 98
The school had a test tracking sheet for each child, which indicated that my son had BSRA administered in the first place. Not sure what went wrong, but the end result was a retest.
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