Specialized High Schools Admissions Test
Encyclopedia
The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is an examination administered to eighth and ninth grade students residing in New York City
and used to determine admission to all but one of the city's Specialized High Schools.The results come in February. The test is given in the autumn
for admission the following school year. After the results of the test in October and November 2008, 6,106 students from New York City
were accepted, out of 29,000 students, who applied. Students have until the end of February to make their decisions. The test is produced and graded by Minnesotan company, American Guidance Services, Inc. The process of creating and scoring the tests is done independently from the NYCDOE.
Admission to the remaining specialized high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
, is determined by audition rather than by examination.
Once an individual is granted admission into a specialized high school, the expectation is to attend that school
will take it at Stuyvesant High School
, in the Bronx at Bronx High School of Science
, in Brooklyn
at Brooklyn Technical High School
, in Queens
at Long Island City High School
or John Adams High School, and students in Staten Island
will take it at Staten Island Technical High School
.
The results of the SHSAT are ordered from the highest score to the lowest score. The list is processed in order by score, with each student being placed in their most-preferred school that still has open seats, and continuing until there are no remaining open seats at any school.
The cut-off scores for each school vary yearly, determined simply by the number of open places in each school and how the candidates score. Students are notified of their scores in February. For the fall 2006 exam, the lowest cut-off score was 478. The highest cut-off score was 558 for Stuyvesant High School, historically the most desired of the schools. The second highest cut-off score was 510 for Bronx Science. For the fall 2007 exam, the highest cut-off score was 561 for Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant accepted anyone who scored 561 or higher while Bronx Science had a cut-off score of 509. Brooklyn Technical had a cutoff of 480.
, Princeton Review, and Kaplan
.
Certain applicants who have scores just below the cut-off score and are recommended by their guidance counselor may qualify for the Summer Discovery Program. Successful completion of this program allows the students to gain admission to a specialized high school. The students must:
Admission is based solely on how the student does on the SHSAT. Debate over the racial composition and a test as the sole factor for admission has continued in New York for decades.
In 1996, the community organization ACORN
published two reports, "Secret Apartheid" and "Secret Apartheid II", calling the SHSAT "permanently suspect" and a "product of an institutional racism", and claiming that Black and Hispanic students did not have access to proper test preparation materials.
The New York City Department of Education created the New York Specialized High School Institute (SHSI), a free program run by the Department for middle school students with high test scores on city-wide tests and solid report card grades. The program's original intent was to expand the population of African American and Hispanic students in the science high schools by offering them test-taking tips and extra lessons; however, students of any racial or ethnic background can apply for admission to the Institute. As of 2006, 3,781 students are enrolled at 17 locations. Students spend 16 months, starting in the summer after sixth grade, preparing for the test.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and used to determine admission to all but one of the city's Specialized High Schools.The results come in February. The test is given in the autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
for admission the following school year. After the results of the test in October and November 2008, 6,106 students from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
were accepted, out of 29,000 students, who applied. Students have until the end of February to make their decisions. The test is produced and graded by Minnesotan company, American Guidance Services, Inc. The process of creating and scoring the tests is done independently from the NYCDOE.
Applicability
The SHSAT is used for admission to the following schools:- Bronx High School of ScienceBronx High School of ScienceThe Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
- Brooklyn Latin SchoolBrooklyn Latin SchoolThe Brooklyn Latin School is a specialized high school in New York City, founded in 2006.The ideals governing Brooklyn Latin are borrowed largely from the Boston Latin School, and popular society's Ideals...
- Brooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
- High School of American Studies at Lehman CollegeHigh School of American Studies at Lehman CollegeRanked 19th best in country by .The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education. It receives supplementary funding from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History....
- High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City CollegeHigh School for Math, Science and Engineering at City CollegeThe High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College is one of the eight specialized high schools in New York City...
- Queens High School for the Sciences at York CollegeQueens High School for the SciencesThe Queens High School for the Sciences at York College , a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science, admits students based on their scores on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test....
- Staten Island Technical High SchoolStaten Island Technical High SchoolStaten Island Technical High School , is one of the nine specialized public high schools in New York City. It is located in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education...
- Stuyvesant High SchoolStuyvesant High SchoolStuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
Admission to the remaining specialized high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...
, is determined by audition rather than by examination.
Once an individual is granted admission into a specialized high school, the expectation is to attend that school
Testing Locations
The test is given in late October(8th grade) or early November(9th grade). (It will be taken on October 29th and 30th in 2011) in all 5 boroughs. Students in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
will take it at Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
, in the Bronx at Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
, in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
at Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School
Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
, in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
at Long Island City High School
Long Island City High School
Long Island City High School, commonly abbreviated L.I.C. or LICHS, is a public high school in New York City, located in Long Island City in the borough of Queens. The present building was built in 1995...
or John Adams High School, and students in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
will take it at Staten Island Technical High School
Staten Island Technical High School
Staten Island Technical High School , is one of the nine specialized public high schools in New York City. It is located in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education...
.
Admission
Students must choose which schools they wish to apply to (up to 8) and indicate them in order of preference on the day of the exam. The test is offered to all eighth and ninth grade students residing within the 5 boroughs of New York City, however the majority of the applicants are eighth graders.The results of the SHSAT are ordered from the highest score to the lowest score. The list is processed in order by score, with each student being placed in their most-preferred school that still has open seats, and continuing until there are no remaining open seats at any school.
Examination format
The SHSAT tests for logical thinking and high ability in both English and mathematics. Both sections consist of multiple-choice questions. There is a time limit of 75 minutes each for both sections, with no break in between. The exam is only offered once a year, and can be taken in both the eighth and ninth grades if the student wishes.Verbal
45 Multiple Choice Questions- 30 Reading Comprehension (5 Reading passages with 6 questions each)
- 10 Logical Reasoning questions
- 5 Scrambled Paragraph (worth 2 points each)
Mathematics
40 Multiple Choice Questions- Various mathematical topics tested
- Basic math
- Pre-Algebra
- AlgebraAlgebraAlgebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
-
- FactoringFactorizationIn mathematics, factorization or factoring is the decomposition of an object into a product of other objects, or factors, which when multiplied together give the original...
- Substitution
- GeometryGeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
(9th grade)
- Geometry
- Basic Coordinate Graphing (8th grade)
- Basic Trigonometry (sin, cos, tan) [9th grade]
- LogicLogicIn philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
- Word Problems (cover all topics)
- Logic
- Factoring
Grading
There is no penalty for wrong answers or unanswered questions. The total number of correct answers (the raw score) is converted into a scaled score through a formula that the Department of Education does not release, and which varies from year to year. This scaled score, an integer between 200 and 800, is used to determine a student's standing. The scaled score is not proportional to the raw scores.The cut-off scores for each school vary yearly, determined simply by the number of open places in each school and how the candidates score. Students are notified of their scores in February. For the fall 2006 exam, the lowest cut-off score was 478. The highest cut-off score was 558 for Stuyvesant High School, historically the most desired of the schools. The second highest cut-off score was 510 for Bronx Science. For the fall 2007 exam, the highest cut-off score was 561 for Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant accepted anyone who scored 561 or higher while Bronx Science had a cut-off score of 509. Brooklyn Technical had a cutoff of 480.
Test preparation
There are usually more than 35,000 students competing to get into the specialized high schools each year. Many take test preparation classes in hopes of obtaining a high score. These classes usually involve significant amounts of money and time. Test preparation textbooks are also available from various authors and publishers, including Barron'sBarron's Educational Series
Barron's Educational Series, Inc. is an American test preparation company, founded in 1941 as a publisher of materials to help students to prepare for college entrance examinations, and that offers online college entrance exam preparation classes...
, Princeton Review, and Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc.
Kaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation materials and other services for various levels of education...
.
Department of Education programs
The New York Specialized High School Institute (SHSI) is a free program run by the City of New York for middle school students with high test scores on city-wide tests and high report card grades. The program's original intent was to expand the population of Black and Hispanic students by offering them test-taking tips and extra lessons, however anyone can apply. As of 2006, 3,781 students are enrolled at 17 locations. They spend 16 months, starting in the summer after sixth grade, preparing for the test.Certain applicants who have scores just below the cut-off score and are recommended by their guidance counselor may qualify for the Summer Discovery Program. Successful completion of this program allows the students to gain admission to a specialized high school. The students must:
- 1. have scored close to the admission cut-off score on the SHSAT; and
- 2. be certified as disadvantaged by their middle school according to any one of the following criteria:
- a. attend a Title 1 school and be from a family whose total income is documented as meeting federal income eligibility guidelines established for school food services by the NYS Department of Agriculture; or
- b. be receiving assistance from the Human Resources Administration; or
- c. be a member of a family whose income is documented as being equivalent to or below Department of Social Services standards; or
- d. be a foster child or ward of the state; or
- e. initially have entered the United States within the last four years and live in a home in which the language customarily spoken is not English; and
- 3. be recommended by their local school as having high potential for the special high school program.
Fairness
A November 2005 New York Times article found that students scoring in the 90th percentile on both sections would not gain admittance to their first choice schools; meanwhile those scoring in the 99th percentile on one section and the 50th percentile on the other, would. This happens because the final grade and percentile represent the total score and the curve within sections.Admission is based solely on how the student does on the SHSAT. Debate over the racial composition and a test as the sole factor for admission has continued in New York for decades.
In 1996, the community organization ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
published two reports, "Secret Apartheid" and "Secret Apartheid II", calling the SHSAT "permanently suspect" and a "product of an institutional racism", and claiming that Black and Hispanic students did not have access to proper test preparation materials.
The New York City Department of Education created the New York Specialized High School Institute (SHSI), a free program run by the Department for middle school students with high test scores on city-wide tests and solid report card grades. The program's original intent was to expand the population of African American and Hispanic students in the science high schools by offering them test-taking tips and extra lessons; however, students of any racial or ethnic background can apply for admission to the Institute. As of 2006, 3,781 students are enrolled at 17 locations. Students spend 16 months, starting in the summer after sixth grade, preparing for the test.