School-entry test tangle

Parents face deadline but exams’ impact is unclear

Parents must decide soon whether they want their kids to take state assessment tests this spring — but it’s unclear whether the tests will count toward admission to the city’s selective middle and high schools next year.

It’s easy for families to sit out the assessment tests, to be administered in person starting Monday. The tests are opt-in this year — in past years, they were required unless students chose to opt out.

Officials have promised that “students will not be penalized for not taking a state exam.”

But they haven’t specified what, if any, role the state tests will play in next year’s admissions, saying only that “information on 2022-23 school year admissions is forthcoming.”

That raises questions for some nervous parents, and longer-term equity concerns for critics of the city’s complex system of elite school admissions screens.

Scores of the city’s selective middle and high schools have used state tests to help determine who get in — though some admissions rules have been suspended or scrapped altogether amid the pandemic.

The uncertainty about next year’s rules is forcing some families to make their testing decisions with limited information.

“We have a current seventh-grader and are very concerned that not taking the exam may impact the high school admissions process in the fall,” said Ingrid Worthington, a Manhattan parent. “What if screened schools count the exam towards their admissions rubric? We’d be ... out of luck if we opted out.”

City officials announced last week that the state exams are optional, citing the challenging and varying circumstances families face in the pandemic.

State officials had sought to cancel the exams altogether over logistical and fairness concerns. Their request was denied by the federal Education Department.

Under the opt-in procedure, New York City families are expected to notify their principals if they want their kids to sit for the tests, which will only take place in person.

The deadline for opting in is fast approaching, and English tests for kids in third through eighth grade are to start on Monday.

It’s unclear how many students will sit for the tests, as more than 60% of city kids expect to be learning from home for the rest of the school year.

“People have to commit” to either taking or not taking the state exams “before people know what the consequences of their actions might be,” said Alina Adams, a public school parent who advises families on admissions.

The confusion has extended to school administrators, who are scrambling to compile lists of kids sitting for the tests while advising anxious parents.

“We read the guidance that the exams are ‘no stakes’ and are unsure” what to tell parents asking about next year’s admissions, said one Brooklyn elementary school principal who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Changes to this year’s admissions process provide one possible blueprint for next year’s approach.

Officials replaced test, attendance and and grade-based middle school admissions this year for a lottery system. High schools have largely been allowed to keep the same admissions criteria they used before.

The move drew praise from critics who say the admissions process effectively segregates students by race and class, and criticism from those who say the admissions screens legitimately help group students by academic ability.

Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, a parent and Community Education Council Member in East Harlem, says the city should continue the policy of discounting tests in admissions decisions into next school year.

“It doesn’t seem like it would be rational, much less equitable, to use tests as criteria for next year’s admissions,” she said.

In past years, some schools have allowed students without state test scores to double count their grades for admissions purposes.

That policy would pose its own complications next year, since families are allowed to switch out letter grades for “passing” marks in both elementary and middle school this school year, making it difficult to compare grade point averages.

Education officials said Tuesday they’re working as fast as they can to react to quick-changing guidance from state and federal officials.

“Families are eager for more information and we will share further guidance with parents and school communities soon,” said spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon.