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Julia Levy (not verified) says:
To the Editor:
In "Gifting Till It Hurts," the Observer says the City has a "plan to lower admissions standards to the gifted-and-talented programs." This is incorrect. This year, the City is raising standards for these programs to the highest level they've ever been. Until last year, there was no citywide standard for giftedness, so being "gifted" meant different things in different neighborhoods. In this old system, 42% of the students offered admission to gifted programs scored below the 80th percentile, a level not considered "gifted" by any national standard. In the fall, we proposed a new citywide standard for admission to gifted and talented programs. We set the bar at the 95th percentile for the 2008-09 school year. Last week, we lowered that cutoff to the 90th percentile for the 2008-09 school year. While this is lower than the original proposal, it is still higher than it's ever been in the past. Last year, in every single district, some students with scores below our new citywide standard were offered admission. This year, every single admitted student will meet our new citywide standard. We made this change to accommodate students who can excel in rigorous gifted programs.
Sincerely,
Julia Levy
Director of Communications
New York City Department of Education
To the Editor:
In "Gifting Till It Hurts," the Observer says the City has a "plan to lower admissions standards to the gifted-and-talented programs." This is incorrect. This year, the City is raising standards for these programs to the highest level they've ever been. Until last year, there was no citywide standard for giftedness, so being "gifted" meant different things in different neighborhoods. In this old system, 42% of the students offered admission to gifted programs scored below the 80th percentile, a level not considered "gifted" by any national standard. In the fall, we proposed a new citywide standard for admission to gifted and talented programs. We set the bar at the 95th percentile for the 2008-09 school year. Last week, we lowered that cutoff to the 90th percentile for the 2008-09 school year. While this is lower than the original proposal, it is still higher than it's ever been in the past. Last year, in every single district, some students with scores below our new citywide standard were offered admission. This year, every single admitted student will meet our new citywide standard. We made this change to accommodate students who can excel in rigorous gifted programs.
Sincerely,
Julia Levy
Director of Communications
New York City Department of Education