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The class of ninth-graders that in September will enter the
city’s eight “specialized high schools” — entry to which is
determined solely by doing well on a standardized test — will be
substantially less black and Latino than before.
Per Department of Education data, black and Latino kids, who
make up almost 70 percent of the school population of about 1.1
million, got only 9 percent of the total admission offers to the
elite schools. That’s down substantially from the last two
years. Asian students scored two-thirds of the places at
prestigious Stuyvesant HS.
Predictably, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new education boss,
Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter, pointed the finger of blame for
this demographic imbalance squarely in the wrong direction: at
the test itself. “Far more students could thrive in our
Specialized High Schools, if only given the chance,” she
tweeted. “Instead, the continued use of the Specialized High
School Admissions Test will produce the same unacceptable
results over and over again.”
But why is that? Nothing about the SHSAT is culturally biased —
it doesn’t ask questions about which club to use on an approach
to the green if there’s a water hazard or which year comes after
Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac or what Navaratri celebrates. Nor
can anti-testers say that it unfairly favors rich kids, because
the city’s own measures show that Asians have the highest rate
of poverty in Gotham.
Some complain that test-prep companies marketed to particular
communities offer an unfair advantage, but the city long ago
established free programs (defined as “Diversity Initiatives”)
meant to offer black and Latino kids the same high-quality test
preparation that some families pay big bucks for.
But test prep, many experts contend, is a red herring for the
real problem. Sure, it’s always good to practice, but it’s not
like there are secret tricks to break the code on a standardized
test. It’s not a video game.
The real test prep, as serious people know, occurs in grades K
through 8, when kids learn the fundamentals of math and reading
comprehension, and develop the habits of mind that translate
into discipline and success in school and life.
A great deal of the responsibility for getting more black and
Latino kids ready to do well on the SHSAT lies with none other
than the DOE itself. As New York public-school parents know,
there’s a vast “missing middle” in the school system — a gaping
lack of quality middle schools.
Chancellor Porter knows this better than anyone — but it’s
easier to blame the test than her own failing system, dominated
by unionized teachers.
Remember, too, that it wasn’t so long ago that the specialized
high schools had many black and Latino students. Brooklyn Tech
was majority black in 1982, for instance, and 53 percent black
and Latino as recently as 1993. Massive Asian immigration
accounts for part of the change since, but the steady
elimination of Gifted and Talented programs for kids in the
fourth grade also limited opportunities for bright minority
children.
Teachers and principals used to be allowed to identify smart
kids and place them in higher grades or mark them as ready for
advanced work in middle school. This gave these kids the
confidence and footing to apply for and do well on the SHSAT and
succeed in the elite schools.
But so-called “tracking” of students is considered unfair and
discriminatory now, so giving brighter kids in disadvantaged
communities a leg up is frowned on. Better to keep the smart
kids bored and dissatisfied with school than admit that some
sorting is natural and inevitable: Call it the “No Child Gets
Ahead” system.
Would eliminating the SHSAT actually build a “more equitable way
forward,” as the chancellor argues? Or would it just dilute the
culture of achievement that the specialized schools offer the
city’s best and brightest?
Through a vicious cycle of negative reinforcement, the DOE has
created a problem that it doesn’t really want to solve. The
cabal in charge of education policy doesn’t even like the
principle of excellence, because it’s exclusionary by
definition. From this perspective, destroying the city’s best
schools by muddling their standards isn’t even an unfortunate
consequence — it’s basically the goal.
Seth Barron is managing editor of The American Mind.
Twitter: @SethBarronNYC
https://nypost.com/2021/04/30/dont-blame-the-test-for-lack-of- minorities-at-elite-nyc-high-schools/
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