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    indigo Offline OP
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    Chancellor Banks Announces Admissions Process Built on Community Feedback
    NYC Dept of Education
    September 29, 2022

    Originally Posted by article
    "... Today, I present changes that take steps toward streamlining our policies, promoting transparency, and making it easier for families to find the right school for their child. One fundamental challenge is we need more schools and programs that provide all that students and families are seeking. We’re also announcing three new schools today to address that challenge, and I look forward to continuing to engage with families and the community around how we can continue to strengthen and increase the number of high-quality schools available for all of our families and our children.”
    ...
    Applicants to screened high schools will be in groups based on their final seventh-grade core course grades. Students will be admitted to screened programs in group order, starting with students in group one. If all students in group one have been accommodated, students in group two will then be considered for available seats, and so on.

    - Students will be in group one if the average of their final seventh grade core course grades falls in the highest 15% of their school or citywide, and that average is at least a 90.
    - Students will be in group two if they are not in group one, and the average falls in the highest 30% of their school or citywide, and that average is at least an 80.
    - Students will be in group three if they are not in groups one or two, and the average falls in the highest 50% of their school or citywide, and that average is at least a 70.
    - Students will be in group four if they are not in groups one, two, or three, and their average falls in the highest 70% of their school or citywide, and that average is at least a 65.
    -All other students will be in group five.
    ...
    Chancellor Banks and this Administration believe that there are academically brilliant children in every neighborhood, however many students have to travel for long hours to reach academically accelerated learning high schools. To fill the gap that exists in some underserved communities of color, three new accelerated learning academies will be opened – informed by community needs. The schools will be located in the South Bronx, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and Southeast Queens, with a geographic priority for students from those areas. The schools will open by Fall 2024. Engagement with families will begin to identify the potential for further expansion of high-quality options throughout the city based on community interest.

    As GROUP TWO mentions the top 30% of class, here is a link which may be of interest:
    "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude?" is a 2011 report on research by the Fordham Institute and NWEA, which examined the movement of gifted students within their class, noting that "Descenders" tended to remain at or above the 70th percentile (top 30%) of their class.
    1) https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/do-high-flyers-maintain-their-altitude
    2) https://fordhaminstitute.org/nation...altitude-performance-trends-top-students (download PDF)

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    Respectfully, I think permanently locking students into/out of specific streams based on performance at such a young age is a very bad idea. I am in favour of streaming classes within each school, with flexible movement of students so that each is in the most appropriate classes to best support their learning in the different subjects. I came up against resistance when I asked for my eldest to be accelerated in maths and when I contacted our Dept of Ed, the senior maths advisor to the DoE advised that the position of the DoE was that selective schools catered for gifted kids and therefore no accommodation(s) should be needed in mainstream schools. My eldest ended up working ahead by herself without her teachers’ support, which though far from ideal at the time, fostered her independence. Starting formal schooling a full year earlier than the average child, she consistently gained altitude throughout school and outperformed the majority of selective school students in the course of medicine she chose to study at Uni. Retirement brought changes in several senior staff positions at our school and with a new maths HoD and principal at our local school, DS was given the green light and support to work at his pace which outstripped even the pace at selective schools.

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    indigo Offline OP
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    Originally Posted by Eagle Mum
    permanently locking students into/out of specific streams based on performance at such a young age is a very bad idea.
    Agreed!

    That is not the topic or stance of the post, which is NYC's recent announcement of planned changes from the present system (which has been discussed on the forum over time, I will look to see if I can readily find old threads/posts).

    The recent NYC article announces being responsive to parents, and beginning to undo the removal of gifted education, which was introduced by de Blasio. Mentioned in the plan are:
    - creating more schools/seats for advanced academics, and
    - simplifying the application process.

    I did not see mention of the heartbreaking lottery system, hopefully that will be discontinued.

    For many years, I have suggested that if the number of pupils needing advanced academics exceeds the number of seats available, then it may be time to consider re-purposing gen-ed seats to gifted seats. This keeps the American Dream of upward socio-economic mobility alive for all who are willing to struggle, sacrifice, and work hard to develop their skills and abilities.

    A few old threads/posts which mention the squelching of gifted education under the former mayor of New York city, Bill de Blasio:
    - (2018) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....selective_middle_schools.html#Post243335

    - (2018) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....ors_Aim_to_Narrow_the_Ex.html#Post243181

    - (2018) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....sant_could_admit_student.html#Post244128

    - (2018) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted...._news_fair_equitable_adm.html#Post242926

    - (2019) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....egation_Plan_Eliminate_G.html#Post245937

    - (2019) http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....Re_Ivy_League_Admissions.html#Post246313

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    Originally Posted by indigo
    That is not the topic or stance of the post, which is NYC's recent announcement of planned changes from the present system (which has been discussed on the forum over time, I will look to see if I can readily find old threads/posts).
    Not of the post, no (I appreciate your position is always that of a positive advocate), but I’ve been following mainstream and social media about ‘screened’ and ‘selective’ schools in the US and they sound much like similar schools here in Australia, where there is very little crossover between streams, so students are effectively locked in or out. I gave my own example of how challenging it can be for gifted students, not only to get support in the ‘nonselective’ schools, but even just to clear active barriers preventing them from working at their natural pace ahead of their classmates, because the prevailing ‘wisdom’ amongst education administrators seems to be that gifted kids are provided for by selective schools and so in nonselective schools, the main aim is simply to ensure everyone meets minimum benchmarks, whereas I am advocating for fluid streams everywhere so that everyone can be supported across the broad range of subjects of the curriculum.

    Ironically, these are no longer issues for my immediate family but that is possibly why I feel comfortable sharing this feedback about screened admissions/selective vs nonselective schools, especially since the new set of staff at our school have shown that nonselective schools are certainly able to support a broad range of students to maximise their potential.

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    indigo Offline OP
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    Indeed! The ideal educational setting, as seen in this forum thread circa 2014, with crowd-sourced description: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....deal_educational_setting.html#Post184974

    Back to the OP, while not ideal, I believe NYC has reached bottom and is taking a step in the right direction to benefit many students.


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