Specialized High Schools Admissions Test

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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 test is given on the first weekend in November.

1 Applicability
2 Admission
3 Examination format
4 Test preparation
5 Department of Education programs
6 Fairness
7 References
8 External links

The SHSAT is used for admission to the following schools:^[1]

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.^[2]

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^[3], 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 students being placed in their most-preferred school that still has open seats, and continuing until there are no remaining open seats at any school.^[4]

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 2 hours 30 minutes 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.

45 Multiple Choice Questions

30 Reading Comprehension (5 Reading passages with 6 questions each)
10 Logical Reasoning questions
5 Scrambled Paragraph sets

50 Multiple Choice Questions

Various mathematical topics tested

Basic math
Pre-Algebra
Algebra

Factoring

Substitution

Algebra II (9th grade)
Geometry

Trigonometry (9th grade)

Basic

Coordinate Graphing

Logic
Word Problems (cover all topics)

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.^[5]

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, historically the most desired of the schools.^[6]

There are usually more than 26,000 students^[7] competing to get into the specialized high schools each year.^[5] 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.

The New York Specialized High School Institute is a free program run by Staten Island Technical High School and Stuyvesant High School for middle school students with high test scores on city-wide tests. 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.^[8]

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:^[9]

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.

Questions have been raised about the fairness of the test. A November 2005 New York Times article found that a 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.^[7] This happens because the final grade and percentile represents the total score and the curve within sections.

More questions have been raised about the admissions process to the specialized high schools. Admission is based solely on how the student does on the SHSAT. It is argued that other factors should be added in order to increase the fairness of the test due to a racial imbalance in the Specialized High Schools. Debate over the racial composition and a test as the sole factor for admission has continued in New York for decades.^[8]