New York City Schools’ Chancellor Joel Klein has announced a plan to restrict admission to Gifted and Talented programs in public schools to students who score in the top 5 percent on standardized tests.

The current admission system has been criticized as being inequitable and subjective. The DoE has used the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test in conjunction with the Gifted Rating Scale to rank pre-kindergarten students for admission to the programs. Some parents complained that this method was inequitable because they felt the GRS was subjective.

If Klein’s plan is enacted, the DoE will replace GRS with the Bracken School Readiness Assessment and continue to administer the OLSAT. Students who take both tests will receive a combined score, with the OLSAT counting for 75 percent. Students with a combined score in the top 5 percent will receive a Gifted and Talented application.

“Today, there’s limited access to gifted and talented education in some districts. The opposite is true in other districts,” Klein said in a press release. “We want to create universal opportunity—and dramatically increase the numbers of students testing for, and hopefully entering, gifted and talented programs. We also want to make sure we’re applying a clear, citywide standard for ‘giftedness’ so that families can be sure we’re teaching their gifted children to a rigorous, consistent standard.”

But not all parents think the new plan is actually more equitable. “EVERY CHILD DESERVES AN ENRICHED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE!!!!!” Paul Mondesire, parent, wrote in an e-mail to a listserv of neighborhood parents. “Allocating resources in this manner in the name of ‘fairness’ comes off as misdirected given the lack of substantive proof that culling the top 5% of children who score high on a given assessment is an accurate predictor of their ability to think critically or their future academic success.”

Klein called for feedback from parents and the DoE will hold a town hall meeting in each borough. The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on the plan at its November meeting.

Joy Resmovits can be reached at joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com.