NurtureShock in New York Times

"New York City schools play a starring role in a chapter of Nurture Shock, a new book from the best-selling author Po Bronson.

"Mr. Bronson, whose best-known blockbuster was What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, 2002), has a knack for adding insight to irresistible nonfiction subject matter. The latest is a mostly counterintuitive tour of psychological and scientific thinking about child rearing that seems destined to turn up in conversations - at least in New York - not just at preschool pickup but at high-powered dinner parties and in water-cooler conversation among working parents.

"New York's big scene comes in a chapter called 'The Search for Intelligent Life in Kindergarten,' as the example of what not to do when it comes to school testing. Mr. Bronson and his co-author, Ashley Merryman, present the body of research suggesting that tests administered before kindergarten - like those that determine admission to gifted and talented programs in New York and elsewhere - are far from solid predictors of future academic success."

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