If you live in New York City and are thinking about sending your child to pre-school, you know how competitive the situation is. At least with the desirable schools. There are simply dozens more applicants than there are available places. As a result there is a huge temptation for well-to-do parents who tend to be hyper-competitive anyway to take what they feel are necessary measures to prepare their three and four year olds for admissions testing. A cottage industry of consultants and tutors has sprung up in most cities to provide the support which these eager parents demand and are willing to pay for.
Admissions testing is simply one part of the admissions process.
Most New York independent schools use the ERB as one part of their admissions testing. The Early Childhood Admissions Assessment (ECAA) is important insofar as a low score will most likely preclude your child from further consideration. So, the question is whether or not to prep or not to prep your child for the test. Most schools take a dim view of that practice. Yet some parents feel that they have no other choice. As a result, Jenny Anderson reports in Private School Screening Test Loses Some Clout that several Manhattan schools are dropping or thinking about dropping the test altogether. The Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York gives parents this advice about ERB testing: "The ERB