more prek pupils qualify for gifted programs the number of students qualifying for gifted kindergarten programs in new york city public school districts rose by percent this year and those qualifying for the elite citywide program jumped by a third raising the possibility that parents and their children have begun to master an admission process that was retooled three years ago according to figures released friday by the department of education the spike in students eligible for gifted programs occurred despite a percent drop in the number who took the exams the city described the decrease as a leveling off after an increase in testtakers last year which they attributed to a publicity campaign of the in new york city who took the test this winter or percent scored at or above the national th percentile up from the year before qualifying them for one of the gifted kindergarten programs spread through the citys school districts but the most striking increase occurred in the number of children scoring at or above the national th percentile up from last year those students qualify for one of the five citywide gifted programs which have only about seats in all meaning the competition for them this year will be even fiercer already the bar for admission to at least one of the citywide programs the anderson school on the upper west side has been raised to the th percentile for most of its seats almost parents whose children scored that high attended recent daytime tours anna lewiston of the upper east side was determined to send her daughter lena to anderson but was told that the girls thpercentile score would not make the cut lena will go to a private school its really too much pressure for preschoolers ms lewiston said of the test another citywide program the brooklyn school of inquiry in gravesend allowed parents on tours before turning others away the principal donna taylor said she noticed growing anxiety among them when they saw the odds of getting one of her slots its heartbreaking she said children who are not selected for citywide programs are eligible for districtbased gifted programs students may also enroll in regular kindergarten classes at their neighborhood schools the cause of the higher passing rates was not clear but increased preparation might have been a factor hundreds of parents hired tutors or bought commercial test preparation materials before taking this years test a mixture of the otislennon school ability test a reasoning exam and the bracken school readiness assessment at the perry school a preschool in the west village children spent an hour a day in a think tank program designed to expose them to the reasoning and materials they would see during the test they also had professional tutoring of the five students who took the gifted exam we got two s a and two s said dawn ifrah the founder bright kids nyc the tutoring company that worked with those children reported that percent of the children for whom it had results had scored over the th percentile and children had scored in the th department of education officials acknowledged that preparation may have played a role but said they were confident that most children who passed belonged in accelerated classes they added that the city was trying to increase the number of fullday preschools in poor black and hispanic neighborhoods which are underrepresented in the gifted programs