Specialized High Schools Admissions Test

Specialized High Schools Admissions Test
Acronym	SHSAT
Type	Paper-based standardized admissions test
Administrator	New York City Department of Education (Administrator), Pearson Assessments (Developer/Grader)
Skills tested	ELA, Mathematics
Purpose	Admission into Specialized high schools in New York City.
Duration	3 hours
Offered	Once a year
Restrictions on attempts	One time each in grade 8 and 9
Regions	New York City, United States
Languages	English
Annual number of test takers	about 25,000
Used by	Specialized high schools in New York City
Qualification rate	21%
Website	www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/testing/specialized-high-school-admissions-test

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 eight of the city's nine Specialized High Schools. An average of 25,000 students take the test to apply to these schools, and around 5,000 are accepted.^[1] The test is given each year in October and November, and students are informed of their results the following March. Those who receive offers decide by the middle of March whether to attend the school the following September. The test is independently produced and graded by American Guidance Service, a subsidiary of Pearson Education, under contract to the New York City Department of Education.^[2]

^ Corcoran, Sean Patrick; Baker-Smith, E. Christine (March 2018). "Pathways to an Elite Education: Application, Admission, and Matriculation to New York City's Specialized High Schools". Education Finance and Policy. 13 (2): 256–279. doi:10.1162/edfp_a_00220. ISSN 1557-3060. S2CID 57567636.
^ Feinman, Joshua. "High Stakes, but Low Validity? A Case Study of Standardized Tests and Admissions into New York City Specialized High Schools" (PDF). EDUCATION POLICY RESEARCH UNIT. Retrieved August 17, 2011.

[1] Corcoran, Sean Patrick; Baker-Smith, E. Christine (March 2018). "Pathways to an Elite Education: Application, Admission, and Matriculation to New York City's Specialized High Schools". Education Finance and Policy. 13 (2): 256–279. doi:10.1162/edfp_a_00220. ISSN 1557-3060. S2CID 57567636.

[2] Feinman, Joshua. "High Stakes, but Low Validity? A Case Study of Standardized Tests and Admissions into New York City Specialized High Schools" (PDF). EDUCATION POLICY RESEARCH UNIT. Retrieved August 17, 2011.

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