Specialized High Schools Admissions Test

Okay.

So for example, three and a half years, just like he did for his SHSAT, I did exams for IIT, right? And just like he sat down and did not miss any Suzanne and kept, kept at it, and kept at it, and today-

Suzanne's our tutor, by the way

... and now he gives example of how the SHSAT essentially is all about keeping at it and keeping practicing, right? He says that all the time.

Extreme discipline, yeah.

That is almost exactly how I would say after having qualified the IIT exam.

So every weekend we traveled at 3:00 AM into a new city, then we understood a new lifestyle, then we adapted and had a show the next day.

And through all of that, including schooling, which he often missed for the show and for the work, he somehow made the time e- throughout all of that to study and still get in.

The Big Apple is a different story.

The eight top high schools in the city are highly selective and admission is based on a sole metric, a standardized exam called the Specialized High School Admissions Test, or SHSAT.

Score distributions break down along racial lines the way most standardized tests do.

Asians beat whites, beat Hispanics, beat blacks.

Back in town, folks, members of the city council, at least two of them, they're pushing to make a new push, I should say, to change how students are admitted to some of the city's most specialized high schools.

Council members Natasha Williams and Lincoln Ressler, they're calling for the Specialized High School's admissions test, or the SHSAT, to no longer be the sole admissions factor at five.

The city's eighth special.

proposal would combine a baseline test score with factors including, of course, grades, teacher recommendations, essays, and an applicant's background.