The Mayor and school chancellor announced today that Gifted and Talented programs will be available in every school district in NYC. Many districts in our city did not have G&T programs in the past so this roll out is supposed to bring more equity to the program that was mainly taken advantage of by Asian and white families. The Department of Education is adding more than 1,000 additional seats to the program making it easier for families to access in underserved district. There will be two entry points – Kindergarten and 3rd Grade for every child in every district.
2,400 Kindergarten seats exist currently in G&T programs in the City, 100 additional seats for Kindergarten per District are now being created which brings up the number of G&T Kindergarten seats to 3,600 seats approximately. Every year, more than 60,000 kindergarteners enroll in public schools. With the expansion, only about 2,500 of them — 4.2% — will be served in gifted classrooms.
There will be no test for 4 year olds, all Pre-K students will be screened for gifted behavior by their teachers with a checklist defining curiosity, problem solving skills and persistence of a child. Students enrolled in non-DOE programs and those not yet enrolled in school will participate in an interview with DOE staff to confirm eligibility. After the nomination by Pre-K teachers students then can apply for a lottery.
Additionally, a new 3rd Grade gifted pilot program is being rolled out to include the top 10% performers in 2nd Grade in every school and they will be invited to be apply for the programs by using academic grades of their 4 core academic subject areas. There will be a citywide enrollment process with priority for District programs for kids living in that District. The administration says the amount of seats is just a baseline and hopes to expand the seats over the next years.
Teacher training for G&T programs was not consistent in the past, the new administration will develop a consistent curriculum with common standards and create networks of schools to share practices.
The program had been discontinued by previous Mayor De Blasio before he left office. In the past children tested into the program with a single test taken during Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade to enter from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade. We are updating this article as information is made available. The program is supposed to come back next school year 2022/23, stay tuned for more details on which schools will offer the program in our Districts.
