Scrapping the SHSAT: Breaking Down Who Would Be Affected, And How - Summary Report

Sep 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia

Scrapping the SHSAT analyzes who would be affected by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to end the Specialized High School Admissions Test and replace it with offers based on top performance in each public middle school. Using the policy’s direct and indirect effects, the report estimates increased access for academically qualified Black and Latinx students and greater racial and ethnic diversity in specialized high schools. It also evaluates potential unintended consequences in non-specialized schools, including intensified demographic and academic sorting and within-school segregation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Summary

Introduction

Methodology

Findings

Which students would be directly affected by the proposal?

How would this proposal alter the high school experiences of the students directly affected by it?

How would the proposal affect the incoming cohorts of students at non-specialized high schools?

Conclusion

Appendix

Scrapping the SHSAT: Breaking Down Who Would Be Affected, And How September 2019 By Nicole Mader, Melanie Quiroz, and Carmen Cheung The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School is dedicated to advancing innovative public policies that strengthen neighborhoods, support families, and reduce urban poverty. Our tools include: rigorous analysis; journalistic research; candid public dialogue with stakeholders; and strategic planning with government officials, nonprofit practitioners, and community residents. Team Executive Director: Kristin Morse Editorial Team: Nicole Mader, senior research fellow Melanie Quiroz, education policy analyst Carmen Cheung, research assistant Bruce Cory, editorial advisor Design: Milan Gary Photos: Courtesy of InsideSchools This report is made possible thanks to the generous support of the New York Community Trust. Copyright @ 2019 The New School Center for New York City Affairs 72 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY 10011 212.229.5418 [centernyc@newschool.edu](centernyc@newschool.edu) [www.centernyc.org](www.centernyc.org) Table of Contents Summary Introduction Methodology Findings Which students would be directly affected by the proposal? How would this proposal alter the high school experiences of the students directly affected by it? How would the proposal affect the incoming cohorts of students at non-specialized high schools? Conclusion Appendix 1 2 4 6 8 14 19 21 Tables & Figure Table 1-Students Receiving Current and Proposed Offers to Specialized High Schools 7 Table 2-School-level Comparisons for all Students Directly Affected by the Proposal, 9 Academic Opportunity Measures Table 3-School-level Comparisons for all Students Directly Affected by the Proposal, 11 Learning Environment Measures Table 4-Cohort Comparisons for all Students Directly Affected by the Proposal, 12 Demographic and Academic Variables Table 5-Non-Specialized Schools that Could See the Largest Changes to Their 15 Incoming Cohorts Under the Proposal Figure 1-Map of Changes to Enrollment at Non-Specialized Schools Under the Proposal 16 Table 6-Projected Demographic and Academic Characteristics of Incoming Cohorts at 17 Non-Specialized Schools Under the Proposal Appendix Tables 1-4 21-25 Summary Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to end use of the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) would make the city’s most elite public high schools more racially and ethnically diverse. The mayor’s plan would instead offer seats at the specialized high schools to the top performers in each of the city’s public middle schools. We tested this proposal and found that, if enacted, it would give some 2,000 academically qualified Black and Latinx students each year access to higher-performing schools and amore ethnically diverse cohort of fellow students than they typically have through the current school choice process. Students no longer eligible for specialized high schools would instead attend schools with academic performance and learning environment measures lower than the specialized schools, but far higher than the typical non-specialized high school. Nevertheless, the proposal is not exempt from the law of unintended consequences. Entrenched patterns of demographic and academic sorting among and within non-specialized high schools throughout the city could well intensify as a result of the proposal, because its impact would not be felt evenly across all schools. We find that while 82 percent of non-specialized schools would lose one or more high-achieving students to the specialized high schools under the proposal, only 35 percent of all non-specialized schools would gain students who were no longer eligible for the specialized schools. This concentration of such students would make those schools less demographically and academically diverse as a result. Within-school segregation would increase, too, as White, Asian, and no

FAQs

What change does the proposal make to Specialized High School admissions?

The proposal would end use of the SHSAT and instead offer seats at specialized high schools to top performers in each city public middle school.

How would the proposal affect students who are directly eligible for specialized high schools?

The report estimates that about 2,000 academically qualified Black and Latinx students each year would gain access to specialized high schools, and that many current eligible students would no longer be eligible under the new criteria.

What unintended consequences does the report warn about for non-specialized high schools?

The report finds that entrenched patterns of demographic and academic sorting could intensify, with many non-specialized schools losing high-achieving students to specialized high schools and becoming less diverse; within-school segregation could also increase.

Sep 25, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia