In the article, “Public Pre-K and Test Taking for the NYC Gifted-and-Talented Programs: Forging a Path to Equity,” the researchers studied what factors led to the discrepancies involved with students taking the gifted and talented test. The researchers noticed that there was a substantial difference in the number of students who took the test as the majority of students were White and wanted to further investigate. To do this, they used NYC DOE enrollment records of elementary school students in 2009. They collected data that included students’ addresses, demographic data, whether a student was an English Language Learner or in special education classes. By using their addresses, they were able to analyze census data to describe neighborhoods where students lived. Their sample included 69,960 students who took the test and obtained a spot in one of the programs. With this information, they analyzed the data and broke it down into percentages. They later performed statistical analyses to address the main goals of their research. Using the statistical data, they found that almost all the factors they tested for influenced whether or not a student would take the test like the neighborhood they lived in. However, the strongest predictor was whether or not they attended a public Pre-kindergarten program.
S. D., S. (2016). Public Pre-K and Test-Taking for the NYC Gifted and Talented Programs: Forging a Path to Equity. Education Week, 35(24), 5.
