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Harder Gifted and Talented Tests Netted Fewer Kids With Top Score

By Julie Shapiro | April 8, 2013 3:48pm | Updated on April 8, 2013 4:59pm
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Billy Figueroa

NEW YORK — The results are in, and thousands of children have qualified in the city's elite gifted and talented programs — but fewer kids netted a top score this year, Department of Education figures show.

Families began finding out over the weekend how their 4-year-olds performed on the new, harder standardized gifted tests, after months of preparation and anxiety.

Fewer preschoolers achieved a top 99th percentile score on the test this year — nearly 7 percent of 4-year-olds got the highest possible score this year, compared to about 11 percent of preschoolers in 2012, according to the Department of Education.

"We're not surprised there was a much lower percentage of 99s this year," said Michael McCurdy, co-founder of TestingMom.com, a test preparation website.