New York City schools are featured in one chapter of best-selling author Po Bronson's latest book "Nurture Shock," says The New York Times. What landed our schools in the limelight?  Bronson and co-author Ashley Merriman say the city has gotten testing for gifted programs all wrong, awarding a very high a percentage of seats to very young students -- with little retesting as kids get older.

As many of our readers know all too well, here in the city, kindergarten admission to gifted and talented programs is based on the results of tests taken by preschoolers. For the high-scorers who make the cut, a kindergarten seat guarantees a gifted education through the 5th grade. And for the luckiest students, like those at the Anderson School, a seat earned by a preschooler guarantees a gifted education through middle school.

In a chapter titled "The Search for Intelligent Life in Kindergarten," Bronson and Merriman present research that suggests tests taken before kindergarten are not a good indicator of future academic success. They add that many test creators endorse retesting children at an older age to ensure fairness in gifted and talented tracking. So while a standardized admissions process with uniform cut-off scores makes acceptance to the programs more equitable, it needs improvement.<!--more-->

According to the Times, Anna Commitante, the head of the city's G&T programs, noted that a few hundred spots in gifted classes are reserved for older children in later grades.  She also said that students have the opportunity to join "enrichment clusters" designed to challenge high-achievers.

And so, the great G&T debate continues. What do you think? Should the city wait to test kids until they're older (around 3rd grade)? Is that too late for parents hoping to escape under-performing neighborhood schools? Or should G&T students just be retested in a later grade? Please comment and let us know below!