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Gifted and Talented Exam

All our 4-year-old UPK classes will incorporate skills and concepts needed to successfully take the city-wide Gifted and Talented Exam into their daily lessons and instructions. G&T Prep will include hands-on activities to help children tangibly manipulate materials to acquire and understand specific skill sets as well as follow-up questions that resemble the actual exam so children may familiarize themselves with the test format and consequently will be more comfortable and confident taking their first exam.

What is the G&T Exam?

The G&T exam for Pre-K students consists of 2 main portions- verbal section (OLSAT) consisting of 30 questions and nonverbal section (NNAT) consisting of 48 questions - each accounting for 50% of the final score.

The verbal G&T assessment measures reasoning and comprehension skills that require children to pay close attention and listen carefully to oral instructions. The assessment includes tasks such as detecting likenesses and differences, recalling words and numbers, defining words, following directions, establishing sequence, and solving arithmetic problems.

The nonverbal G&T assessment measures reasoning skills without the use of spoken language. Children perform tasks such as completing patterns, sequencing, and connecting ideas in order to demonstrate an understanding of relationships and an ability to solve problems.

OLSAT

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NNAT

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Test Format

The exam is not timed but expect your child to spend approximately 1 hour at the testing site.

The proctor will bring your child to a separate room while you wait outside, which means you will not be sitting next to your child during the G&T exam. After the proctor reads some general instructions and goes through a few sample questions, the actual exam will begin.

The proctor will read the test questions to your child for the verbal section ONLY ONCE. The one-time reading of the question is strictly enforced because the exam is measuring how well your child comprehends and retains information.

Answer choices are in a visual multiple-choice format, but Pre-K students do not fill/bubble in the answers. They point to the answer, and the proctor records the answer.

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What are your different options in terms of G&T programs?

 

District Program

There are approximately 100 ‘district’ G&T programs across the 32 districts in the city.

You can find what programs are available in your district by going to the Department of Education (DOE) website.

If your child ranks in the 90th percentile or more on the exam, she/he will be eligible for a seat in a district G&T program. If you live in a district that includes the G&T program that you want, your child will have priority for admission over those who do not live in the local community/district served by the school. However, every child in the district has the same opportunity to apply to the program, no matter how far they live from the school. Also, if your kid has a rank in the 90th percentile, it does not automatically guarantee a seat in the G&T program.

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G&T students who attend district programs do so alongside students who attend these schools in the non-G&T classes. Though kids from both G&T and non-G&T classes may take some specials together like art or gym, the 'gifted' students always take the same academic classes together.

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City-wide Program

City-wide G&T programs are not so much programs as schools. If your kid gets into a city-wide G&T, all other kids in the school are in the G&T program; there are no “non-G&T” students in separate classes. This means that everyone has to have scored at least the minimum entry score on the admission exam to get in. Another big difference from the district-wide program is that the city-wide programs accept students from ALL boroughs. This means that your kid will NOT get priority just because he/she lives in the district where the city-wide program is located.

The five city-wide programs are the most selective of all the G&T programs in NYC, and some of the most difficult to get into.

  • NEST+M located on the Lower East Side. K-12

  • Anderson School located on the Upper West Side. K-8

  • Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars (TAG) located in East Harlem. K-8

  • Brooklyn School of Inquiry located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

  • PS/IS 300, The 30th Avenue School located in Astoria, Queens. K-8.

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How to Prepare for the G&T Exam?

Familiarity is key when it comes to the G&T exam.

Kids who are extremely intelligent are still apt to stumble on concepts when they are presented to them in test questions with an unfamiliar format. As a parent, you will quickly find out that having your child do practice questions will improve her/his performance.

The exam also requires kids to be focused for a prolonged period, which requires a great deal of stamina. Help your child exercise his or her ‘concentration’ muscle by taking a few full-length practice tests.

We suggest you focus on building your child’s confidence when preparing him or her for the test. You can do this by using a number of strategies, including by encouraging her/him not give up too soon or not to make too many random guesses out of frustration.

Keep test preparation fun and full of praise and encouragement.

Getting anxious and pushing your child in a non-supportive manner will not help him or her get the best results.

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Take a look at what to expect from the G&T Exam on this video by Bright Kids:

Registering/taking the test and Applications

  1. Submit a Request for Testing (RFT) form to the DOE if you want your child to get into a G&T program. The DOE usually accepts RFT starting in mid-October. Deadline is about a month later. Check DOE websites for exact dates. You can submit your RFT online.

  2. Register early to get a test date, time and location that you want. Tests for students entering kindergarten through third grade are administered on weekends at school sites. The tests will take place between early January and early February.

  3. Pick the language you want your child to take the test in. Options are: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. Your child cannot change back and forth between languages during the test.

  4. If your child is eligible, you will receive an application to apply for a program in early April, due back a few weeks later. You will receive notice of your G&T offer/s in late May. Once the scores are released, a lot of the school sites will post open house information.

  5. Pre-register for school by June.

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