what is up with the ERB for K admissions?

By Joyce Szuflita
If you are getting ready to apply to Private Elementary School (Independent, Parochial or Proprietary) for kindergarten this fall, you may be confused about what kind of testing your child may be doing. The answer to this is you are just going to have to read the application instructions at every school you are applying to in the fall. Each of them will be doing their own thing.

Here are some basics: Independent Schools are members of an organization called ISAAGNY (the Independent School Admissions Association of Greater NY). They all agree to abide by the same admissions protocols and timelines so that schools won't poach from one another and parents can't play one school off another. ISAAGNY schools had previously agreed to use the Educational Records Bureau to administer the ECAA for use in kindergarten entry. Last spring, they said that there would not be a universal standarized test for admission.

Aristotle Circle conducted an informal survey to see which schools will continue to use the ERB test as a factor or requirement for next year's admissions. It looks like the Brooklyn schools will probably be using their own assessments.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June that it is a big chaotic mess. There is a new test called, Admission Assessment for Beginning Learners. "It will be administered via iPad and results will come within two days, according to the ERB website. The new test also has a tidier price tag: $65 versus $568 for the older one. It will be available starting in mid-October, giving parents a short window to sign up and apply for the 2015-2016 school year." - WSJ

The Orcas Mosaic/Ravenna app is a kind of common app. It is a central virtual location for you to manage your applications and tours. You fill out the information once, you list the schools that it will be sent to (the schools don't know who you are applying to) and you fill in any supplements that individual schools require.