NYC Families Get Word of Eligibility for Gifted Classes

About 25 percent of children who took the gifted and talented tests qualified for the program, according to New York City education officials, a similar proportion of test-takers as the year before. Eligible families received an invitation to apply on Monday. Final offers will go out at the end of May.

This year, more than 36,000 rising kindergarten through third grade students took the tests, about 2,000 fewer than last year. Students must score in the 90th percentile or above to qualify for a district program; they must receive a score in the 97th percentile or above to qualify for one of the citywide programs such as the Anderson School.

Because these five citywide programs have just a few hundred seats combined, they typically only take students who score in the 99th percentile. Close to 1,100 students met that bar this year, a dip from the year before when just over 1,400 students received the highest scores.

Socioeconomic disparities of qualifying students persist. Manhattan's District 2, encompassing some of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, had the highest number of test-takers and eligible children. Of those 3,345 test takers, 42 percent qualified for a gifted class. In District 7 in the Bronx, home to the city's most impoverished neighborhoods, just 5 percent of test-takes — 12 students in all — received high enough scores to qualify for a local or citywide program.

See a full breakdown of eligibility by district.

“The City needs to find a way to provide access to these programs for a broader range of New York City's children,” said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children. She said the city's expanded pre-k options could help by providing information on gifted programs and the required tests to a wider range of four-year-olds.

A spokesman for the city's education department, Harry Hartfield, called the gifted and talented classes just one high-quality option for elementary school students.

"It’s critical that every student gets a fair shot at these unique programs, and that the gifted and talented test is accessible to all our students and their families while maintaining the same high standards," he said.

The city sent postcards to families in neighborhoods with low participation rates, Hartfield said, such as the Bronx and Central Brooklyn, and also saw a slight uptick in test-takers in those neighborhoods.

In 2013, test-publisher Pearson had scoring problems with New York City's gifted and talented test. The city said it would consider using a different company, but it stayed with Pearson in 2014 and said it will continue the contract for one more year.