Inequality in the SHSAT?
By Kaitlyn Youn
Every year, in New York City, thousands of eighth-graders aim for one goal: to pass the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT) and get admitted into one of the nine specialized high schools in NYC. The nine specialized high schools are public schools with academically and artistically gifted students. Admission to specialized schools is only based on a student’s test result on the SHSAT. Although it may seem like a good idea that students are chosen solely on their performance on the SHSAT, the lack of diversity within the schools remains a major issue.
Many students and parents consider attending one of the specialized high schools as an extreme privilege. When I was in 8th grade, everyone around me would be discussing all the clubs and sports they’d want to join if they got into a specialized high school. The opportunities would be the hottest topic throughout my grade. These high schools allow students to jumpstart their academic careers by establishing an accelerated curriculum to improve overall competitiveness. For example, Bronx Science boasts hundreds of clubs and sports teams. I feel extremely lucky to have access to these resources, which allow me and my peers to gauge our interests. With clubs ranging from athletics, careers, culture, education, games, hobbies, the arts, and youth activism. I can proudly say that attending a specialized high school can definitely help someone discover themselves and find what type of person they are.
However, the number of African American and Latino students entering these specialized high schools is shocking. Asian students are the overwhelming majority, taking up 72% of public high school students. In the 2017-18 school year, Latinos made up 7.2%, and African Americans made up 5.6% of students at the specialized high schools.
The diversity in these specialized high schools is minimal. Whether I am sitting in class or walking through the hallways, I see that my high school is filled with mostly white and Asian students. This lack of diversity necessitates the existence of groups, such as ShadesofBxsci on Instagram. ShadesofBxsci is an anti-racist coalition group that amplifies the voices of BIPOC students and makes sure that their voices are heard. The need for these groups then caused me to wonder why there is such a huge gap in the number of African American and Latino students in my school, and going into deeper thought of this predicament, I understood that there are several factors that play into this lack of diversity.
Preparation for the SHSAT mainly takes place outside of school. Students need to seek test prep on their own behalf. This automatically gives an advantage to students whose families can afford private test prep or tutoring services, which can easily cost upwards of $3,000 per semester. Therefore, a student who works hard but cannot afford private tutoring services is already at a disadvantage. I saw around me that all of my classmates and friends in middle school would spend thousands of dollars on expensive test prep for the SHSAT and stay there for hours after school. However, as a student who did not go to any test prep services, mainly because I took the test for fun and had no prior knowledge of what specialized high schools were, I realized the results of test prep. Test prep is not required for the SHSAT, but it proves extremely beneficial when preparing for the exam. Those who enroll in test prep classes for the SHSAT use it as practice for themselves and to give a basic understanding of what to expect. Every student is different, some are better at regular school exams and some are better at standardized testing. I have friends who aren’t the best at taking standardized tests but do very well in school. They received tutoring to better themselves as test-takers and managed to get themselves into Stuyvesant and Bronx Science. However, I have seen people spend years preparing for the SHSAT and still not achieve the results they desperately hoped for. The SHSAT is definitely more inclined towards students who excel in standardized testing, and yes, there are ways to make yourself a better test taker, but going to test prep doesn’t always mean you’ll be able to get into your school of choice. Overall, this factor can really depend on what type of student you are.
The NYCDOE has never explained that the content on the SHSAT is not related to what students are learning in middle school, either. The tested material is not in the regular middle school curriculum; therefore, passing the curriculum does not surely guarantee success on the SHSAT. Unlike the annual state math and reading exams every NYC student has to take, schools spend considerable time prepping their students for the subject test regents or state tests. The results for these exams act as the basis for understanding student proficiency in these specific subjects. Every teacher prepares their students for these state tests, unlike the SHSAT, and they explicitly assess what students are supposed to know in each grade. However, for the past couple of years, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed a plan to dismiss the SHSAT. He plans to include admission solely depending on the top-performing students in each middle school across NYC. Who is to say that this plan is fairer than the SHSAT? Every school is different in terms of community, teachers, school work, and curriculum. There are too many different factors that would cause an imbalance in the fairness of admission with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan. The debate on whether or not they should end the SHSAT once and for all still plays on. However, even though the admission test has many flaws, there is no fair way to change admissions.
