Many of those details still need to be worked out, said Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning, Carolyne Quintana.ĭe Blasio had called for ending the current model, which separates students into separate classrooms or even entire schools. Officials did not provide information on how many students are currently enrolled in gifted programs that start in third grade and did not clarify how many schools would get gifted programs for third graders. With the expansion, only about 2,500 of them - 4.2% - will be served in gifted classrooms. Every year, more than 60,000 kindergarteners enroll in public schools. Still, the program will continue to enroll a tiny fraction of the city’s students. “Through this expansion, we are providing more opportunities for accelerated learning to more families, while providing an equitable, fair process to identify the students who will excel with accelerated learning,” Chancellor David Banks said in a statement. Currently, third grade programs rely on teacher recommendations and other factors. In third grade, the top 10% of students in each school will be invited to apply, based on grades in four core subject areas. Education department officials said the shift has resulted in a more diverse group of incoming kindergarteners this year, but have not responded to numerous requests for demographic information.

Some only offer the program beginning in third grade, an attempt in recent years to make it more fair for students in neighborhoods where few had historically qualified to enroll in kindergarten.Īdmission in kindergarten will continue to be based on teacher recommendations - a change that began during the pandemic - in lieu of admission based solely on a test administered to preschoolers. Additionally, officials aim to add 100 seats in kindergarten “gifted and talented” classrooms so that every district will now have a gifted program starting at that grade.

Gifted program