NYC "overhauls" procedures for identifying gifted students
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/education/30kindergarten.html
I checked out the article in today’s New York Times. The news, is alas, mixed. The good news is that the city is testing all kindergartners next year (something they should be doing anyway-apparently now you have to request that your kid be tested, which is a barrier to parents who don’t speak English or who have problems navigating the school system bureaucracy). The bad news? 75% of the score will be based on the Otis-Lennon, which some researchers say is biased towards students who grow up in middle-income households and whose parents speak Standard English. There are a growing number of tests that were designed specifically to eliminate this type of bias, and it is a shame they are not being used. Overall, the plan gets a C-points for acknowledging (almost 15 years after the US Department of Ed issued a policy statement to this effect) that gifted students exist in all segments of the population. Points deducted for using outmoded identification methods. Gifted children, many from underserved populations, will continue to be “Left Behind” by the NYC public schools.
I checked out the article in today’s New York Times. The news, is alas, mixed. The good news is that the city is testing all kindergartners next year (something they should be doing anyway-apparently now you have to request that your kid be tested, which is a barrier to parents who don’t speak English or who have problems navigating the school system bureaucracy). The bad news? 75% of the score will be based on the Otis-Lennon, which some researchers say is biased towards students who grow up in middle-income households and whose parents speak Standard English. There are a growing number of tests that were designed specifically to eliminate this type of bias, and it is a shame they are not being used. Overall, the plan gets a C-points for acknowledging (almost 15 years after the US Department of Ed issued a policy statement to this effect) that gifted students exist in all segments of the population. Points deducted for using outmoded identification methods. Gifted children, many from underserved populations, will continue to be “Left Behind” by the NYC public schools.