{"id":37681,"date":"2025-11-12T22:24:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/37681\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:24:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:24:30","slug":"nycs-gifted-programs-mamdani-and-admissions-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/37681\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC\u2019s gifted programs, Mamdani, and admissions changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani reignited the debate over New York City\u2019s gifted and talented system earlier this month when he signaled his intention to shake up the program<\/a> by eliminating admission for kindergartners.<\/p>\n

The gifted programs, which enroll nearly 18,000 elementary students across 140 schools, have long been a lightning rod for questions about diversity, fairness, and academic achievement. Roughly 2,500 students are currently admitted in kindergarten and remain in separate classes or schools through fifth grade.<\/p>\n

Both of Mamdani\u2019s opponents, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, quickly countered with proposals to preserve and expand gifted classes. And on Friday, four lawmakers from southern Brooklyn introduced state legislation that would require the city\u2019s Education Department to expand gifted programming.<\/p>\n

Lost in the recent political volley: New York City\u2019s gifted and talented system has already changed in recent years, with a meaningful increase in the number of Black and Latino students, children from low-income families, and students with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Those demographic shifts are the result of a move from a test-based admissions system to one based primarily on teacher recommendations<\/a>, along with Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration opening dozens of new gifted and talented programs<\/a> starting in third grade in underserved areas.<\/p>\n

The changes have opened gifted education to a much wider swath of students, but also have created new challenges for schools that have long enrolled a much narrower range of students, some educators and parents said.<\/p>\n

The gifted system\u2019s trajectory under Adams also shows the challenges of growing: Many of the new third-grade gifted classes struggled to attract enough applicants, forcing schools to backfill the open seats with students who didn\u2019t formally apply, according to a Chalkbeat review of city data and Education Department officials.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s proposal, which would preserve classes that start in third grade, seems to be sparking discussion within the city Education Department.<\/p>\n

Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos told families at a Staten Island parent town hall on Monday that she\u2019s \u201cconcerned\u201d about the current admission process, and that the Education Department in recent days has started talking about possible changes.<\/p>\n

How to structure the program is a challenge that has vexed multiple city mayors. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio in the final months of his tenure proposed eliminating separate gifted classes altogether,<\/a> but Adams halted that plan. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really important problem to solve, and a really hard one too,\u201d said Tamara Sussman, a parent of a Queens student in a gifted program. It requires \u201cbalancing an equitable education with one that feels challenging and appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

From testing to recommendations: A more diverse gifted and talented<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s gifted programs long relied on standardized exams administered to 4-year-olds to determine admission, with roughly a quarter of test-takers qualifying for a spot in 2019.<\/p>\n

Under the teacher recommendation system, which launched during the pandemic, that equation shifted dramatically. Last year, 85% of applicants to gifted programs were deemed eligible.<\/p>\n

At River Park Nursery School on the Upper West Side, Director Maria Nunziata estimates around 80% of her preschool families apply for gifted spots \u2014 and she recommends virtually all of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery child brings to us some kind of gift and talent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In other parts of the city, far fewer students even apply. Just 76 students from the Bronx\u2019s District 9 applied last year, compared to 718 students from Upper West Side\u2019s District 3, even though the latter district has 5,000 fewer students.<\/p>\n

With far more eligible students than available seats, the city gives first priority to siblings of existing students. Some schools also set aside seats for students from underrepresented groups. The remaining seats are determined by a lottery. <\/p>\n

Under the test-based system, children had to score above the 90th percentile to qualify for the vast majority of programs, which are separate gifted classes within neighborhood schools. <\/p>\n

To be eligible for one of five standalone gifted schools \u2014 including New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math; Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars; and The Anderson School \u2014 students had to score above the 97th percentile.<\/p>\n

But the test helped drive sharp racial and economic segregation: In 2020, the last year it was administered, just 12% of kindergartners in gifted programs were Black or Latino.<\/p>\n

After the city nixed the test<\/a>, the demographics began to change. <\/p>\n

In the 2023-24 school year, 30% of kindergartners in gifted programs were Black or Latino, officials said at a recent City Council hearing. The share of students from low-income families in gifted programs citywide rose to 47% last year, up from 34% in 2019, according to Education Department data.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to host increasingly diverse [gifted and talented] classes that reflect the diversity of our city,\u201d said Education Department spokesperson Jenna Lyle, who noted that the city also incorporated the gifted application into the normal kindergarten application to streamline the process for families.<\/p>\n

A changing population brings new possibilities and challenges<\/p>\n

Some parents and educators say the admissions changes have opened access to students with learning disabilities who would have been screened out by the test but nonetheless benefit from an accelerated program. Citywide, the share of gifted students with disabilities rose to 5% last year from 3% in 2019. (About 22% of students citywide have a disability.)<\/p>\n

At Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars in East Harlem, \u201ctaking away the test made it so we attracted students who were more neurodivergent,\u201d said Elaine Tang, a special education teacher. The school recently opened its first classes with both a special and general education teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of forced us to question: What does it mean to be gifted anyways?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She noted the school\u2019s proficiency rates on state tests had remained in the high 90s. (Across all five standalone gifted schools, reading and math proficiency rates on state exams were in the mid-to-high 90s last school year, with little change from past years.)<\/p>\n

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As a wider set of students are now eligible for gifted seats, however, several parents and educators said some programs are straining to accommodate students with a broader range of academic abilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cChildren feel like there\u2019s something wrong with them when really they\u2019re not ready for a curriculum that\u2019s a year past their grade level,\u201d said one staffer at a gifted program, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.<\/p>\n

At New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math<\/a>, some parents are also noticing differences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go into the classroom, it\u2019s louder,\u201d said one parent who has two children who attended the school, one of whom was admitted after the new admissions changes went into effect. \u201cIt\u2019s a stark contrast to when I used to go for the older one. They could sit. They could pay attention more. They could keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other educators wondered whether pandemic disruptions have also altered students\u2019 academic readiness and behavior. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to pull apart how it would have looked if none of these kids had been learning at home for the first half of their elementary experience,\u201d said Leigh Ercole, who teaches fourth and fifth graders in the gifted program at Manhattan\u2019s P.S. 165.<\/p>\n

She continues to believe in the importance of having a gifted track, but would like to see an admissions overhaul.<\/p>\n

Ercole believes the city should use a mix of teacher nominations and other assessments to measure whether students are prepared for gifted classrooms. Students should be universally screened to ensure everyone has a fair shot at admission, she said, adding that at a previous job in the Bronx, she saw few parents who knew about gifted programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the answer is to say, \u2018No one is gifted,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to do a disservice to students in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sussman, the Queens mom, said her children, both of whom attended a gifted program at P.S. 150Q, benefited from math instruction that moved at a faster pace. But she was open to other methods of providing accelerated instruction, including \u201cschoolwide enrichment\u201d models.<\/p>\n

Those programs provide accelerated opportunities for students based on their strengths and interests without tracking them into separate classrooms. An advisory group under de Blasio proposed schoolwide enrichment as a replacement<\/a> for gifted tracks.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Sussman agreed with Mamdani\u2019s plan to phase out gifted programs for kindergartners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really young to start dividing kids,\u201d Sussman said. <\/p>\n

One study finds NYC gifted programs boost learning<\/p>\n

Amid heated debates about gifted education, there is limited research on a basic question: Do the programs boost student learning?<\/p>\n

One study<\/a> focused on New York City suggests the answer might be yes. <\/p>\n

A group of University of Pennsylvania researchers found that the city\u2019s gifted programs appear to significantly increase state test scores \u2014 with some of the largest gains among Black and Latino children. Still, strong students who did not attend gifted programs still performed well, suggesting they were unlikely to be harmed if they didn\u2019t attend.<\/p>\n

A separate review conducted by the city\u2019s Education Department was less conclusive. \u201cThere is no clear trend or indication that G&T enrollment is associated with student achievement,\u201d according to an analysis of math and reading scores obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request. (Both studies were conducted when the city relied on the admissions exam.)<\/p>\n

Allison Roda, an associate professor at Molloy College who has studied the city\u2019s gifted program<\/a>, emphasized that there is enormous variation in how they are implemented. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a standard curriculum and so you might get enrichment, you might get acceleration,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really depends on the school district and the teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, New York City\u2019s approach of diverting gifted students to separate schools and classrooms starting as early as kindergarten makes it an outlier nationally<\/a>. Tang, the Manhattan gifted teacher, taught in three New Jersey districts before moving to the city and never saw standalone gifted classes. <\/p>\n

Separate gifted programs in the suburbs are \u201cvery rare,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we have to wonder why that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael atmelsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex atazimmerman@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4146,22058,9,24,56,63,65,64,10780],"class_list":{"0":"post-37681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-chalkbeat","9":"tag-new-explorations-into-science-atechnology-and-math","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news","16":"tag-school"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}