Many NYC private schools are announcing they will not accept ERB scores next year for kindergarten entry. Instead, they will step up in-school testing/interviewing, looking to evaluate students’ readiness for kindergarten, both academically and socially.
From one Manhattan girls’ school:
Hewitt, as suggested by ISAAGNY, will not be requiring, or accepting, the ERB ECAA test for kindergarten or first grade applicants. We will also not be accepting any other standardized test scores in lieu of ERB scores.
Hewitt will continue to see our kindergarten applicants in groups of six girls before meeting with their parents for an interview. The girls will be greeted by two members of the admissions staff and brought to a classroom for group work, individual, and one-on-one work. Our objective is to uncover each girl’s strengths and potential contributions. We will use a combination of those activities and games that we have developed ourselves and those that were recommended by ISAAGNY. Our assessment will be tailored to determine readiness for Hewitt’s program and the activities will be developmentally appropriate and engaging.
We encourage you to tell your families that the best preparation they can give their children is to talk with them, read to them, make observations together and give them opportunities to draw and build with whatever materials are available.
Other private schools, while not requiring the ERB, may make sending the scores optional.
Meanwhile, Horace Mann WILL require the ERB, and a handful of other schools may as well.
Will a different test be introduced? I’ll keep you posted. I’ll also be keeping my clients posted on my preparation recommendations.