The de Blasio Administration has announced plans to dramatically change how “gifted” students are both identified and educated, phasing out the current Gifted & Talented program, while adding “tailored accelerated instruction” for students in third grade and up, although the students will remain in their general education classrooms. The city will stop administering the Gifted & Talented test for four-year-olds, as previously announced; all students currently enrolled in the program can continue.
New York City’s racially segregated G&T program has long been a flashpoint within the five boroughs and in education circles across the country. The hour-long test used to evaluate children entering kindergarten was especially controversial. Critics of the test argued the exam was not age-appropriate, failed to measure true aptitude, and discriminated against students with fewer resources.
Using the test, for the 2019-20 academic year, only 6% of the pre-schoolers accepted into the city’s G&T kindergarten classes were Black, and only 8% were Latino. When the city replaced the test with recommendations and a lottery, more offers went to students from low-income communities. Now, officials said, the city will train all kindergarten teachers in accelerated instruction--and increase the number of schools with accelerated programming from 80 to all 800 elementary schools. It will hire more teachers to provide that instruction in areas that have had few or no gifted programs. All third graders will be screened for additional enrichment.
The de Blasio Administration has dubbed its new approach to accelerated learning “Brilliant NYC,” and says the 65,000 kindergartners will be served, a 26-fold increase over the 2,500 kindergarten students admitted in the current G&T program.
“The era of judging four-year-olds based on a single test is over. Brilliant NYC will deliver accelerated instruction for tens of thousands of children, as opposed to a select few,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Every New York City child deserves to reach their full potential, and this new, equitable model gives them that chance.”
There will be a citywide forum and community meetings to discuss the changes, but dates have not been announced. Officials said they will begin establishing the new program in December, but ultimately its fate will be up to the next mayor who takes office just a month later. Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams has said he favors offering more gifted programming in low-income neighborhoods, but has not said he supports fully dismantling the program that has been in place for decades.
“Eric will assess the plan and reserves his right to implement policies based on the needs of students and parents, should he become mayor. Clearly, the Department of Education must improve outcomes for children from lower-income areas,” Adams campaign senior advisor and spokesperson Evan Thies said in a statement.
De Blasio had promised to overhaul Gifted & Talented as part of changes to admissions policies he announced during the height of the pandemic, but moved to allow the test one more time this spring. However, a city education panel voted down the contract for the test, speeding its demise. Former Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza was reportedly incensed at the mayor’s initial decision to continue administering the test, which contributed to his decision to step down. The mayor’s own diversity taskforce had recommended phasing out G&T years ago.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
