Everything from teacher diversity to classroom bullying to the hotly contested issues surrounding the Gifted and Talented program and the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHAST) were put on the table as the city’s Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza held an on the record discussion with the ethnic press and local community last Friday.
With opening remarks by Carranza, he laid out current plans for all children who attend New York City public schools. One of the main points Carranza made during these remarks was to continue to create an environment where students are supported and nurtured from Pre-K onward.
“We will continue building on the equity in excellence agenda as a children’s agenda. We’re going to continue to focus on what is good for children we’re not solely focused on tests or test scores. Black students, Latino students, students in poverty and temporary housing who had the Pre-K experience vs. the same kinds of students who didn’t have an even greater academic performance,” said Carranza.
“So, for the first time in New York City we have some evidence that Pre-K is actually working to narrow the opportunity gap. There are a set of things students should know by the first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade all the way up until the entrance exam for high schools,” he added.
Carranza was well aware of all concerns brought up by the press and gave attention to every question posed. As of now, per Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Gifted and Talented Program and the SHAST will remain in place. Carranza sees the Gifted and Talented program in a different light.
“I don’t like to use the term Gifted and Talented. I want everybody to please be clear about the fact that Gifted and Talented services for intellectually gifted students aren’t going away. The School Diversity Advisory Committee (SDAC) recommended that the current configuration of the Gifted and Talented programs are not the best practice and I actually agree with them,” said Carranza.
The Chancellor went on to give his perspective as to why the program is not as effective as New Yorkers believe it to be.
“In a system like New York City that is so large and diverse, we will always tend to serve those intellectual students but what we haven’t done is be very clear with the community what is Gifted and Talented and I’m going to stop using that term because it doesn’t really mean anything. Services for gifted intellectual students, what does it really mean? I’ll be honest with you as an educator that knows about curriculum and knows about pedagogy and educational policy, I read a lot and look at the research, I look around at a lot of gifted and talented programs that exist they’re not gifted and talented at all. You just give the kids more work and they do it faster. There’s no real specialized teaching,” he added.
Carranza maintained the city’s public school system owes it to the citizens of New York to be very clear as to what’s involved and identify what an intellectually gifted student encompasses.
“I agree with the committee [SDAC] that there’s no research that proves or supports the fact that testing four-year-olds for a gifted and talented program is neither effective nor the right thing to do. The standards are set by the state. But how are you teaching and assessing these standards to students? What materials are you using to teach these standards? That’s what the curriculum is for and that’s what you bring in to help teach those standards,” he continued.
The Chancellor is executing a new type of framework in 10 city public schools as an answer of sorts to the Gifted and Talented programs. “We’re implementing what we call the instructional leadership framework where schools can do their own analysis as to what are the components of a highly affected curriculum and how do you know what your students need and what they should have. In this framework, you can make a decision about what’s best for the students and make sure teachers and parents are involved.”
Carranza was adamant and continued about why SHAST and Gifted and Talented programs are useless in gauging student performance and success but said he remains open-minded to solutions.
“Why in the world would we use a single test to identify students for an opportunity to go to a specialized school? The process for going to a specialized school or any school should be open as air. I’m always open to new and great ideas,” he concluded.
