AABL by the ERB: Are You Smart Enough for NYC Private School Kindergarten? Amy Zimmer of DNAinfo New York wants to know in her brilliant piece: QUIZ: Are You Smart Enough to Get Into Private School Kindergarten?
Taking linkbait to a whole new level, Zimmer asks you to try sample questions from BrightKids’ prep materials for the new Admission Assessment for Beginning Learners (AABL) given by our old friends the Educational Records Bureau (ERB).
The AABL test, meant to be given by iPad to NYC preschoolers for NYC private school kindergarten admission, is so challenging that my friends and colleagues all over Facebook are reporting their dismal scores. Smarter than a 5th grader? As if!
Zimmer writes:
While the new test is much cheaper for families — it’s $65, rather than $568 for the old test, because the new test is taken by iPad rather than by a trained examiner — experts believe many parents will shell out even more on classes and books to prepare their toddlers for it.
“These are subjects that were not previously tested,” said Emily Glickman, president of Abacus Guide Educational Consulting, who advises parents on private school admissions.
“The AABL is supposed to identify a child’s ability and achievement,” Glickman said. “That achievement part — how much you learned — is totally new. You usually think of an achievement test as something you take in high school. It’s not something you think of for preschoolers.”
The AABL tests early literacy and math skills, subjects that were not tested on the old ERB, the WPPSI. Besides pointing out the change in price (significantly lower on the AABL), skills (significantly more on the AABL), tester (an iPad rather than a human on the AABL), Zimmer helpfully quotes Bige Doruk of BrightKids. Doruk insightfully notes that this new ERB test will reward NYC kids from more academic preschools.