City Council Member Robert F. Holden (D-Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, Woodside) today received praise from the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY) for his sponsoring of Council Resolution 417 to create more district Gifted and Talented (G&T) programs and classes, and to create a pathway for admission to G&T intermediate school programs in the city.
CACAGNY said in an emailed statement that the resolution addresses the need to keep and ensure that the highly successful district wide G&T programs are in every NYC school district for both elementary and intermediate schools.
The resolution also provides for several avenues to G&T programs. When implemented, this will create two types of G&T programs that have both benefited many NYC students in the past and have been proven to be gateways to the city’s great Specialized High Schools. Ensuring that all NYC students interested in pursuing high academic achievement have access to these programs will raise many students who are being left behind, particularly in black and Hispanic communities, CACAGNY said.
Key points in Resolution 417 are:
- Keep existing district wide G&T programs and have them in every district for elementary and intermediate school.
- For all elementary schools with four or more classes per grade, create at least one class in each grade for top performing students who gain entry through academic merit rather than through an admissions examination.
- For all intermediate schools with four or more classes per grade, create at least one class in each grade for top performing students who gain entry through academic merit rather than through an admissions examination. (What was formerly known as SP or Honors programs.)
- For district wide intermediate school G&T, utilize an admissions examination that uses a competitive and objective measure of scholastic achievement to create a pathway for admissions for students interested in entering a G&T program for intermediate schools.
- Students in elementary G&T who have met standards in a G&T program from kindergarten through fifth grade could receive automatic admission to a G&T program from sixth through eighth grade.
CACAGNY supports Resolution 417 as a path to better education and a better pipeline for all groups of students, regardless of background, to excel and enter the best high schools in the city.
