As a new parent in Manhattan who is a clinical psychologist with well above average intellectual and achievement testing training & experience, I was curious about admissions testing for the most competitive private schools in the city. Shit, I thought maybe I could crack it 1/

Admissions for nursery school does not require standardized cognitive (intellectual or achievement) testing because we’re talking about 3 year-olds at the oldest end. Nursery school admissions is parental admissions testing - with all of the classist & privilege implications 2/

However, at age 4, this is new mind you, there is a new standardized psychological test developed by psychologists like every other. I remember as many in my cohort may recall taking the god-forsaken ERB test (mini ISEE test ie mini SAT test). Conceptually, the ERB & the SAT r 3/

intelligence tests ie they measure “intellectual” or “cognitive capacities” ie the ability to learn or the capacity to perform well in domain X. They are conceptually similar to the Wechsler child or adult IQ tests & dissimilar to the Wechsler Achievement Test (WIAT). 4/

While “achievement” tests like the WIAT purportedly measure school taught knowledge and skills; IQ tests purportedly measure, non-school taught intellectual abilities. The difference is more conceptual than empirical imho & I think it’s a false distinction. However, diff 5/

between IQ & achievement test scores within the same individual, depending on size & base rate, are the basis - or were the basis - for learning disability diagnosis. This is all an aside. The main point is that previously 4 year olds took the paper and pencil ERB test. 6/

Theoretically, test prep would involve getting better at taking theoretically similar IQ tests of which there are plenty & only licensed psychologists have access to. So, this would have been a word situation for me. However, something else has been in the works by the makers 7/

of the ERB since at least 2014. With #COVID19, the elite schools - along with the company that makes/owns the ERB has decided to formally replace it with a purported “achievement test” although it is described in the language of intelligence testing. This new test is iPAD 8/

administered (although not by my crew at Pearson Q) but by the ERB company. So what we have here is a new test - the AABL - classified as an achievement test yet described as an IQ test - for 4 year olds. It’s reasonable to wonder what academic achievement skills could be 9/

expected from a 4 year-old. They have not learned much yet in school. Nevertheless, this is where we are: iPAD admin of the AABL. Devious fellow that I am, I went to google scholar, psychinfo, etc to look up any construct validity studies on the AABL, data on what correlates 10/

with it ie what tests are most correlated w it so that I could buy those tests and give Art some leg up. For better & worse, typically such research exists if you know how to find and read it. It’s probable such data has long existed for the ERB. What happened when I looked up11/

the AABL? One publication appeared. It was a doctoral dissertation from 2017. A few things were noteworthy about this scholarly work: 12/

1. How would a doctoral student get access to archival data from the ERB company about a test yet to debut that will become as important as the ERB at least?
2. How would any academic gain such access? Typically construct validity studies of these sorts of admissions or 13/

licensing exams are conducted and published by the makers of the test, for better or worse.
3. Why is the only source a dissertation rather than a peer reviewed scholarly journal?

Last but not least was the name of the University which published the dissertation.... 14/

4. The University granting the doctoral degree to the student who completed this dissertation was non other than Liberty University, the evangelical school in Virginia that is the butt of many jokes yet inching towards civility & normalcy in recent years despite its owners 15/

16/ which schools are using the AABL, Liberty U studied high stakes admissions test in Manhattan? Two schools. One of them is the Alma mater of [.,,checks notes...] 16/

Brb baby upset

If u couldn’t guess, it’s the Alma mater of Roy Cohn and his successor, Bill Barr. Bill Barr = poster boy for the Koch Bros/RW consultancy network. 17/

Aside from that fact and aside from a child sex abuse scandal that could rival the Catholic Church in longevity and breadth (yes an exaggeration), the school is probably the most prestigious, elite, competitive, and republican in the Manhattan private school world. 18/

It is sort of a pre-Heritage foundation training center for future conservative power holders. Infamous for giving 12 year olds a minimum of 6 hours of nightly homework, it’s home to the children of parents 19/

who would have or did know Jeffrey Epstein either as financial advisor or otherwise... 20/ TBC

Other observations that are a little fishy. The school in 2017 issued a JPM underwritten bond sale solicitation as though it were its own autonomous country like buying a bond in the state of Israel (which one can do). 21/

I don’t know enough about the historical evolution of bear strands following its bankruptcy, relationship with JPM or the relationship between JPM & Cantor but all road signs point to the same private school in question. Something to consider. Almost over 22/

Lastly, circling back to the only available publication on this test being a dissertation from Liberty U, certain oddities deserve further investigation like how the fuck anyone let alone a grad student would get ERB Inc to hand over such privileged $$$ data. And why 23/

3 years b4 the test debuts someone makes this test the topic of their doctoral research framed in the language of social justice ie to investigate the social emotional growth correlates of the ABLL yet afaik no such data is reported. The id of dissertation author & chair 24/

could provide some insights that might help connect these enigmatic dots. That. Is. All. For tonight children. Hopefully more conspiracy theory laden private school nyc prep drama in the future. 25/25

*the extent of this thread being conspiratorial in nature is really an empirical question imho.