Every winter, thousands of New Yorkers take a standardized test that will determine their future opportunities. Some of them have studied for months, even paid for expensive test prep classes. And after it’s all over, maybe they can go back to playing with blocks, practicing tying their shoelaces, and singing the ABCs.

These aren’t high school students taking the SAT—they’re children as young as four years old, entering kindergarten through third grade, who take New York City’s Gifted and Talented (G&T) admissions test, hoping for a coveted seat in one of the 103 G&T programs across the city’s public elementary schools. Under the current system, this test score is the sole G&T eligibility criterion.