At yesterday's City Council Education Committee hearing on school admissions' policies, the city's gifted and talented programs were on the hot seat.

City Council members, led by committee chair Robert Jackson, repeatedly questioned Department of Education officials about the lack of G&T programs in minority communities and the under-representation of black and Latino students. This has occurred despite changes to the admissions policies made several years ago that standardized the testing process throughout the city to ensure fairness and access to all students. Council members also questioned the timeline by which students are tested in January and notified of acceptance into G&T classes late in the school year.

One major pitfall of the current G&T test is that it can't be administered until all eligible students turn 4, which means holding off until January. Liz Sciabarra, the director of the enrollment office, conceded that the admissions timetable, which has "kindergarten offers going out absent of G&T" results is tough. "We really need to have better alignment," she said.

Now, it seems the city will be shopping for a new admissions test once the current contracts with testing companies end next year. Newly-appointed Deputy Chancellor for Portfolio Planning Marc Sternberg said, "we are looking for a new test." Requests for Proposals will be issued in the fall but any changes in the assessments would not take affect until the following year, he said.

This news came as a surprise to all in attendance and later Department of Education spokesperson David Cantor told reporters that there was no change in policy and that the DOE doesn't believe there is anything wrong with the current tests.

In the past, when districts administered their own tests, minority students fared better in admissions. According to city statistics cited in The New York Times, before admissions were standardized in 2007, 15% of the students admitted to G&T programs were Latino and 32% were black. In the 2009-2010 school year, only 12% of admitted students were Latino and 15% were black.

Much of the City Council's discussion about G&T yesterday centered on how  to ensure that G&T classes remain diverse. To qualify for a gifted program students must score above the 90 percentile nationally on a combination of two assessments, the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (Olsat) and the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA).

City Council member Jackson suggested that the city "eliminate a national norm and use a citywide or district level norm" in determining which students qualify for G&T programs.

Others have suggested assigning students to G&T classes using a holistic approach and considering factors other than test scores.

Still others question the validity of testing children for gifted programs at age four and urge assessing them at a later age.

We're wondering what you think.  How should students be evaluated for G&T programs? In what grade should G&T programs start?