What does Gifted & Talented mean?
/By Joyce Szuflita
I have listed the schools with available programs for lower elementary here.
There is no Citywide or even district wide information about curriculum or expectations in these classrooms, because there is no different curriculum and there is no uniform approach. They say it is "accelerated" but what that means is something that the DoE will NEVER explain.
This is what you don't get:
You don't get a smaller class size (although sizes will vary by popularity).
You don't get a better teacher (although there are good teachers in a variety of classrooms Gen Ed and G&T).
You don't get a single extra penny of funding (whatever arts and enrichments come to the school as a whole will come to the G&T classroom AND you can't raise money for a separate classroom).
You don't get a leg up for favored middle school placement (except if you are lucky enough to get into one of the Citywide K-8th grade programs).
What do you get? a curated class of parents.
I don't dislike the G&T classrooms in the neighborhoods, but there is a lot of magical thinking about what being in a G&T means. I absolutely think that families should consider them as options for K like they consider all the programs available. My belief is that K entry for G&T is generally a misguided system, but it works for some families and you do what you need to do. Most kids who attend G&T at kindergarten would do well anywhere. Feelings about G&T range wildly around the City. In Brownstone Brooklyn G&T hasn't been terribly popular. Families often love their very high quality, high performing local zoned schools. In the olden days when four year olds were tested for G&T the data remained fairly stable. About 250 kids tested into G&T. There were 100 seats available. Usually 90 seats were claimed. Most people were curious to test, but they would ultimately choose their local Gen Ed programs. It is not the same in other districts. That is why you see many classrooms available in Bay Ridge and very few in D13, 14, and 15 relative to the districts sizes. Why doesn't 321 have a G&T classroom? They don't believe in tracking.
The City does have an entry at specific district 3rd grade programs "High Performer Program" that is very different and if it gets off the ground, could be a much more appropriate entry for students who really NEED that program.
To read more look at Inside Schools.
So how to assess the individual G&T classrooms. Tour. It is the only way.
