COLLEGE ADMISSIONS DATA:
In order for graduating high school students to get in to a four year accredited college or university, most of the time they must take either the SAT or the ACT. At this point in time, more students (since 2011) nationally take the ACT than the SAT.
Check out this article to see why the ACT has overtaken the SAT. Put the address in your browser for a clearer view than if it comes up straight from this site.
The SAT seems to always be controversial. Mostly, I think, that has to do with the fact that the SAT is more "political." For example its current president, David Coleman, is associated with the Common Core agenda (he helped create the curriculum!), and so one must be suspicious of the political leanings of the man who calls the shots for the content of and the types of things tested on the SAT. Also, his college roommate was Arne Duncan. Follow the dots! The College Board is also responsible for the content of PreAP and AP courses and so the same dumbing down design is being implemented. There is much controversy over the AP American History course this fall (2014).
Also, the SAT gets altered, dumbed down or changed quite regularly, so there is no way to compare scores of past generations with those of the present generation. That, of course, is by design.
Here are links to the state-by-state results for SATs and ACTs for the last year available:
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/cb-senio
http://www.act.org/news/data/10/states.html
Here are the statistics from the Texas Education Agency for KatyISD students who took either the SAT or the ACT by year.
ACT (average score)
1993 22.0
1994 22.1
1995 21.9
1996 22.3
1997 22.3
1998 22.7
1999 23.0
2000 22.8
2001 22.8
2002 23.0
2003 23.1
2004 23.2
2005 23.3
2006 22.9
2007 23.1
2008 23.5
2009 23.6
2010 23.7
2011 23.7
2012 23.5
The percent reaching criterion means the student scored in an acceptable range on the test. It is expressed by TEA in Snapshot as "percent at or above criterion." Obviously when less than 50% of those actually taking the SAT test can score at or above criterion, that's not so good. Also, the percentage number taking the tests has gone from 90.4% in 1994 to 79.2% in 2012. How sad that about 20% of KatyISD students don't even bother to take the ACT or the SAT--presumably because they know they have not learned enough in 12 or 13 years of a KISD education to go on to college.
Check out this web site to find out more information about which colleges will fit with a certain SAT or ACT score:
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegerankings/tp/top-texas-colleges.htm
(It is always pertinent to remember that just a high score on the SAT or the ACT will not be the only qualifying factor; a good essay, a good GPA, advanced course work, many extra curricular activities and volunteer activities are also part of the mix. It is also advantageous to take an Entrance Test prep course or at least work through a Princeton Review test prep guide.)
SAT Average Score % Tested % At or Above Criterion
1993* 944 78.0 31.3
1994 953 90.4 37.0
1995 939 93.9 32.4
1996* 1068 82.0 43.6
1997 1065 82.2 42.1
1998 1082 77.9 46.6
1999 1079 77.1 46.1
2000 1081 81.9 46.0
2001 1083 83.0 45.3
2002 1093 76.4 46.6
2003 1092 84.1 48.6
2004 1100 79.0 49.9
2005* 1099 83.7 49.6
2006 1088 80.9 46.5
2007 1079 84.0 45.7
2008 1080 77.9 46.4
2009 1082 74.7 46.3
2010 1078 73.3 46.2
2011* 1071 81.0 44.8
2012 1577 79.2 43.1
* Years in which the SAT was changed/dumbed down. The SAT has been altered to make it easier in 1981, 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012, and 2014. Each time the test becomes less accurate, in my opinion, in indicating ability to succeed in college. Others might say that the test is changed to reflect what colleges want in their prospective students. That may well be the case, as colleges are also being dumbed down.
The other pertinent factor regarding the test scores in the years from 1993 to 2012 is that Katy ISD has had a changing racial/ethnic composition in its student body.
In 1993 there were 5% African Americans, 11% Hispanics, 81% Whites, 4% Other, and 10.7% of the students were economically disadvantaged.
In 2012 there were 9.6% African Americans, 34.4% Hispanics, 41.7% Whites, 11.6% Asians, .01% Pacific Islanders, 2.4% of two or more races, and 30.1% were economically disadvantaged.
In 2014 there were 9.5% African Americans, 34.1% Hispanics, 41.0% Whites, .5% American Indian, 12.3% Asian, .1% Pacific Islanders, 2.6% Two or More Races, and 29.0% economically disadvantaged.
These factors, for several reasons, have some bearing on the ACT and SAT scores.
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