Dive Brief:
- New York City Chancellor Carmen Fariña aims to level the playing field for underrepresented students of color in the city’s most selective high schools by providing additional testing support and expanding access to the single test that determines enrollment.
- An editorial the New York Daily News applauds the plan for its free tutoring and test prep in more middle schools and its outreach work to convince more promising black and Latino students to take the test, which will be offered during the school day at five schools.
- While some people in the city have advocated changing the admissions requirements to benefit black and Latino students, this plan will focus exclusively on helping them perform in the current system, which has long favored white and Asian students.
Dive Insight:
In New York City, black and Latino students make up 68% of the total student body and only 11% of students at selective high schools. At the city’s most prestigious, the portion is even smaller. The same situation is true in Chicago and Boston. In New York, where performance on a single test determines enrollment, administrators have been accused of designing a system that sets certain students up to fail, since black and Latino students have historically performed worse on standardized tests. Students from low-income families who do not have the money to pay for expensive test-prep are at a disadvantage to their peers from wealthier families.
The outreach campaign is expected to expand access and boost the numbers of underrepresented minority students on campus, but plenty of people in New York do not think that is enough, advocating instead for a broader admissions process, including consideration of grades and school attendance.