Brilliant NYC

• Presentation Slides

• Feedback Survey

• Event Recording [YouTube]

• About Brilliant NYC

  • Brilliant NYC Blueprint

• Brilliant NYC Citywide Expert Panel

The following questions were submitted during the event.

Question: Is Brilliant NYC a new program to replace the Gifted and Talented (G&T)? (AIDEN WANG)

Answer: Yes. Brilliant NYC is the blueprint that will reshape our entire system, beginning with all Kindergarten classrooms next fall and building upon the work of our 3K and PreK programs.

Question: Can schools teach the Mandarin language? (Jazmin Gallego)

Answer: Yes, Mandarin Chinese is already offered as a foreign language in several District 25 schools. Visit the District 25 Schools and Programs at a Glance for this information.

Question: Do you have to apply to be part of Brilliant NYC? Will there be a screener for the program or is it open to all children? (Teresa Pirelli, Nazia Bhatti)

Answer: There will be no screener for this program. This is open to all Kindergarten students next year. This is aligned to research that shows students should be identified for gifted behaviors later on (typically the end of second grade) and experience rich early childhood instruction to ensure we develop the gifts, talents and abilities of all children.

Question: What are the benefits of the Brilliant NYC program? (Nazia Bhatti)

Answer: The Brilliant NYC Blueprint is designed using the latest educational research about how learning happens and cognitive neuroscience. To learn about the research informing the Brilliant NYC Blueprint, visit: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/programs/brilliant-nyc.

This type of learning benefits all children and ensures we present every student with the opportunity to cultivate their strengths, interests and abilities.

Question: How will Brilliant NYC nurture students who shine artistically? (Shyvonne Noboa)

Answer: Children need opportunities to both develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills and develop their strengths and abilities in other disciplines and domains. This can be done by ensuring that teachers are provided with training and support on how to enhance their school’s existing curriculum in ways that build on students’ strengths and interests as they design lessons. Another way this happens is through the implementation of project based learning that can often connect across all disciplines and incorporate the art, music, dance, physical education, etc.

Question: I have a child who passed the G&T exam. How does Brilliant NYC apply to my child?

Answer: Children who may have passed the previous G&T exam, which was last administered in winter 2019, either received a placement and are currently attending G&T programs or received a placement and decided to stay at their home zoned schools. For children currently in G&T programs, there will be no disruption of their educational experience and these children will continue in their current programs.

Question: What is the curriculum for Brilliant NYC?

Answer: Brilliant NYC is not a curriculum. It is an instructional approach that supports and trains teachers to enhance their existing curriculum.

Question: Are the teachers getting more specialized training for Brilliant NYC?

Answer: Currently, G&T teachers do not receive additional training. Under Brilliant NYC, all kindergarten teachers would receive intensive training and continued professional learning to support continued development of their practice aligned to Brilliant NYC Blueprint. To find out more about the Brilliant NYC Blueprint, visit: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/programs/brilliant-nyc

Question: Do teachers have the ability to individualize each student’s lesson plans when they have so many kids in each class?

Answer: Teachers already individualize instruction in many ways. No class, even our current G&T classes, are homogenous. All children have different areas of strengths, interests, abilities and places where they may need additional support. Brilliant NYC will train teachers on the latest educational research to support them in improving their ability to individualize instruction through professional learning and ongoing support such as job-embedded coaching. To hear directly from the experts about this, please watch the Brilliant NYC Expert Panel: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/programs/brilliant-nyc/brilliant-nyc-citywide-expert-panel

Question: With Brilliant NYC, how would teachers support and challenge students working above grade level? …. For those students entering kindergarten I was wondering how would they be both supported and challenged and be able to work with peers on their level? (Jennifer Polito)

Answer: Dr. Allison Roda has shared, “all classrooms are heterogeneous. There is no such thing as a homogeneous classroom setting. While some people outside of education might think that teachers can’t differentiate in mixed ability classrooms because it’s too hard or they don’t know how, that underestimates the teaching profession and it is not consistent with what the research says. Teachers are trained in differentiation, meaning they regularly provide students with different ways to learn the material. What teachers need is ongoing professional learning to effectively and equitably differentiate instruction, in every subject and for the entire day. Teachers achieve this goal by meeting students where they are and setting individualized learning goals to drive their own learning and growth. Differentiation is an alternative to separating students into different academic groups or tracks, and it helps to prevent the reproduction of status and privilege from entering the classroom.” Under Brilliant NYC, teachers will receive training and ongoing support to:

• Understand the fluidity of student intelligence, and they must be trained to identify students’ unique abilities

• Enhance the quality of curriculum through student-centered, project-based learning opportunities, to learn techniques for differentiating assignments and resources, to include supports for students at all levels of the learning spectrum, and to give students tools to persevere through challenges.

• Offer enrichment activities based on student interest and choice.

Question: I’m a manager at a school. The school I work at is also moving to this type of teaching and learning. When students have not learned a topic, I’ve observed teachers go to the default of a banking style of teaching (the current norm). How will the district guide against this? What types of training will be provided to teachers? What types of continuous support and resources will be provided to teachers? How will the district ensure that students learn all the material required for a school year through PBL and that students have multiple at-bats with the materials?

Answer: Many assessment practices reinforce the deficit thinking you are referring to. In education, we have often struggled with this, resorting to remediation, intervention and ultimately referrals for special education when our efforts fail. This has often resulted in further removing students from access to rich, grade-level content and causing and growing achievement or opportunity gaps. More recent research has proven that we need to engaging all students with rich content and strong instructional approaches that create access rather than focusing on remediation. Doing this work, will require ongoing training and support via collaborative inquiry and job-embedded coaching to help teachers see all children for their strengths and use assessment in a more asset based way. Under Brilliant NYC, teachers will be trained to understand research that shows children learn and acquire skills at different rates and in different ways. Because each young person’s life is unique, there are multiple possible pathways to healthy learning and development. One practical way we can support this, is through the use of Project-based Learning.