Neighbor News
Belmont World Film and Belmont Against Racism to Hold Discussion After Screening of a Documentary About Test Schools
Have you followed the news about test schools, especially Boston Latin School? Check out the documentary TESTED on October 10 at 7:30 PM.
Belmont World Film and Belmont Against Racism co-present the award-winning documentary Tested on Monday, October 10, at 7:30 PM at the Studio Cinema in Belmont (376 Trapelo Road). The film follows a dozen racially and socio-economically diverse 8th graders in New York City as they fight for a seat at one of the city’s top test schools. Their only way in: to ace a single, 95-question, standardized test called the SSHAT—the Specialized High School Achievement Test—that is administered annually in October
Exploring such issues as access to a high-quality public education,
affirmative action, and the model-minority myth, the film reflects the
extreme gap in opportunities for different races in America,
particularly at the nation’s top public schools. In New York City, where
blacks and Hispanics make up 70% of the city’s school-aged population,
less than 5% attend the city’s most elite public high schools, as
compared to as many as 73% Asian-Americans.
Director Curtis Chin, a well-regarded writer, filmmaker, and community activist, who is curre. ntly a Visiting Scholar at NYU, will speak after the screening, as will Dr. Colin Rose, Assistant Superintendent of Opportunity and Achievement Gaps for the Boston Public Schools. Dr. Rose is involved in breaking down cultural and structural barriers and creating opportunity and access to traditionally marginalized students in an effort to close performance gaps, a theme explored over and over in the film.
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“This is an issue that affects everyone whether you live in a city or not,” says Ellen Gitelman, Belmont World Film’s Executive Director. “Boston’s own free exam school initiative, a free program that prepares students for the exam, saw a dramatic increase in participation this summer by black and Latino students as compared to white students, a phenomenon that holds a lot of promise.”
Tickets are $11 general admission and $9 students and seniors in advance at http://www.belmontworldfilm.org, and $12 and $10 at the door, which opens 30 minutes prior to screening time. For more information, visit www.belmontworldfilm.org, Facebook, and @BelmntWorldFilm, or call 617-484-3980.
