Who got into Boston’s exam schools this fall? BPS offers an initial glimpse at the data – The Boston Globe

The success rate of applicants receiving invitations to attend Boston exam schools next fall varied widely based on the socio-economic conditions of where they live, according to data released by Boston Public Schools Wednesday night.

Overall, 976 applicants for the seventh grade out of a total of 1,348 received admission offers, which were sent out two weeks ago, while 440 applicants for the ninth grade out of a total of 666 got into Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the O’Bryant School for Math and Science.

Students entering the exam schools this fall are the third group to be admitted under a three-year-old admission policy that aims to increase student diversity at the city’s exam schools, especially its flagship Latin School.

How were admission decisions made?

BPS divides applicants into eight tiers based on the socioeconomic conditions of where they live. Admission decisions are then made by tier based on grades and standardized test scores. Many applicants also receive up to 10 bonus points if they attend a high-poverty school, or 15 points if they are homeless, live in certain public housing, or are in the care of the state Department of Children and Families.

The policy, which aims to increase the racial, socio-economic and geographic diversity of those admitted, has led to great variation in outcomes per tier depending upon the number of applicants received.

Wednesday night’s data did not include a demographic breakdown by race, ethnicity, or income status —that is expected to be released in the coming weeks as part of a more comprehensive data analysis.

How did admission offers vary by tier?

In tier 1, where the greatest concentration of low-income students reside, all 115 applicants for grade seven received an admission offer to one of the exam schools. In tier 8, where there were 270 applicants for grade seven — the most of any tier — 45 percent, or 123 applicants, got in.

In grade 9, where the applicant pool is much smaller, only 55 applicants in each tier received admission offers, although the number of applicants per tier varied. Tier 3 had the lowest number of applicants with 75 and tier 8 had the largest number of applicants, 99.

How did the composite score vary by tier?

Not surprisingly, there were big differences in average composite scores among the applicants who received invitations.

In tier 8, the most competitive tier, seventh-grade applicants who got into Latin School had an average composite score of 98.8; for Latin Academy it was 97.1; for the O’Bryant, it was 96.5. Tier 8 had the highest average composite scores across the board.

By contrast, seventh-grade applicants in tier 1 had an average composite score of 80.5 for Latin School; 65.6 for Latin Academy; and 64.6 for the O’Bryant. Tier 1 had the lowest average composite score for Latin School and Latin Academy and the second lowest for the O’Bryant.

For grade 9, composite scores for applicants receiving invitations to Latin School ranged from 100 in tier 6 to 93.7 in tier 3; for Latin Academy the average composite score ranged between 97.6 in tier 8 to 85.7 in tier 3; and for the O’Bryant it ranged between 89.2 in tier 8 and 70.2 in tier 5.

Any thing more about the bonus points?

BPS revamped its distribution of bonus points this year for applicants who attend high-poverty schools. For the past two years, all applicants from those schools received 10 bonus points, which proved problematic in tiers with the stiffest competition that made it difficult or impossible for applicants with no bonus points to get into exam schools.

Under the new system, bonus points for seventh- and ninth-grade applicants ranged between 2 points in tier 8 to 10 points in tier 2. More than 60 percent of seventh-grade applicants in tier 8 received bonus points while more than 90 percent did in tier 2.

Why doesn’t BPS expand exam schools?

The School Committee raised that question Wednesday night. Both Chair Jeri Robinson and member Brandon Cardet-Hernandez wondered whether BPS could create satellite campuses for the exam school’s junior high programs in an effort to increase capacity.

“It is heartbreaking year after year to seek kids who have the qualifications and desire to go to a school or schools that they cannot go to when we know we have other schools that are struggling and the goal is to move all of our students into high-performing seats,” Robinson said.

Superintendent Mary Skipper and Mayor Michelle Wu had proposed adding about 400 seats to the O’Bryant as part of last year’s plan to relocate that school to a would-be renovated facility in West Roxbury, but that proposal fell apart this winter amid community opposition.

James Vaznis can be reached at james.vaznis@globe.com. Follow him @globevaznis.