You can take a glass is half full or half empty look at the new SAT results for Wake.
The school district's average SAT score rose two points to 1,059 (based on the math and reading portions). Only a handful of much smaller districts in the state had a higher score, such as 1,179 in Chapel Hill-Carrboro.
But the percentage of Wake high school seniors who took the exam this past school year dropped to 74 percent. It was at 80 percent the previous year.
Not only was the percentage lower, but the raw number of seniors who took the exam was actually less.
While not always a given, the average score tends to rise when fewer students take the exam.
Over the years, Wake has touted how its SAT participation rate has increased. They've argued that it shows more students are getting ready to to go to college. In the years where the average score dropped, officials would focus on the growth in the participation rate.
Of the district's schools, Enloe High was once again on top with an average score of 1,174. Next is Green Hope High at 1,134 and Apex High at 1,116.
Jumping out of the district, Raleigh Charter High had an average score of 1,264, the third highest score in the state.
If you throw in the relatively new writing portion, Wake's average score went up three points to 1,565.
Click here to view school-by-school results.
UPDATE/CORRECTION
Corrected link for results. Click here for the online story. Corrected to say that Raleigh Charter had the third highest score, not the second highest.
Comments
question for hui
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 15:38 — Forget_not_the_...How did our minorities perform in the SAT??
Minorities
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 17:44 — KeungHui (author)Are you looking for Wake, state or national and over what time period?
reply
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 22:45 — Forget_not_the_...How about all in the past year and five years ago?
And we certainly don't need the writing score added in....
Thanks....this will say so much about where we are and where we need to go and focus.
Also is there a way to find out if the AG kids scores have gone up or down in the last year or from five years ago?
Moving Target
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 08:42 — Kent Misegades (not verified)Average SAT scores don't tell the full story. The SAT has been dumbed down since the 1970s, and there have been other changes to it in recent years. The ACT is known to be the easier of the two tests. What is missing from the comparison with other counties and states is the graduation rates; dropouts don't typically take the test. A better measure for a given school/district might be:
(SAT score) X (% seniors who took test) X (% freshmen who graduated in 4 years).
What about non-seniors? My son took the SAT in his sophomore and junior years. His score as a junior in high school was high, so he didn't bother retaking it as a senior. Does this mean that his score was not counted?
Now there is a movement by some colleges, for instance Wake Forest, not to count the SAT at all! What's up with that, anyway? How else is one to measure an applicant's capabilities objectively? I would not want my child to study at a school that has abolished such important standards.
Thanks fellow Southernor CarolineinApex; my primitive high school in a small Alabama town generated two Rhodes scholars. All we had was chalkboards. The A/C was an open window.
Demographics Link?
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 07:30 — CarolineinApexI'm wondering if the scores reflect demographic changes due to the population boom since the 1990s, which has consequently increased the cost of living here. In order to live in many parts of Wake County, you have to have a decent income, and you can draw the conclusion that those higher income jobs require more intelligent workers, and those workers have intelligent children. That's not to say the natives who were here were incapable of posting high scores--I'm a southerner myself, although not from this area in particular--and I get very tired of the stereotype that southerners aren't as smart as people in other parts of the country--NOT true. It just seems like the demographics might be a factor here since the area has grown so tremendously and I'm wondering if anyone is looking at the demographic changes alongside the SAT score increases.
That could also be why there a fewer percentage of students are taking the SAT--there are so many more students here than there were years ago. I'm guessing a higher actual number of students took it because there are more of them, but the percentage is just lower.
Raleigh Charter scores
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 14:52 — charterschoolmomHow does RCHS get such high SAT scores? Well, they have very selective admissions policies - much more selective than most people realize. All students have to be ready for at least Alegebra I in 9th grade, but the actual admissions lottery is based on what math class the prospective student is recommended for. Roughly, 25% of the students must be ready Honors Algebra II in 9th grade (meaning they took Algebra I in 7th grade and Geometry in 8th grade), 50% of the students must be ready for Honors Geometry, and only 25% are in the lowest group, which is those taking Algebra I in 9th grade. I am sure you would see similar SAT scores from any similar sample of WCPSS students.
ok, I don't have a high
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 13:18 — bigwinnieok, I don't have a high schooler (but an 8th grader who took the SAT's last year) so I am stumbling my way through the scores, someone tell me if I have this right. for Leesville High School in 2008 the CR (is this Critical Writing?) score was was 525 and Math was 555?
and number tested? if in 2006 there were 421 at 83.7% how then in 2008 can 405 equal 85.3% is that based on total number of students in that school?
check this
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 13:08 — bigwinniecheck this out
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3432849/
How Does Raleigh Charter School Do It ??
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 12:36 — al_in_garnerConsistently superior.
Congratulations indeed.
Have any idea WCPSS?
Hmm..
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 13:26 — Bob_SconceA cynic would say that they're filtering out low-performing students by requiring them to be ready for Algebra I by 9th grade. (I wasn't aware that it was possible to get into 9th grade anywhere without being ready for Algebra I.)
I'm hoping that they grow out of their downtown campus and have to move into, say, the old Burlington Mills factory on Capital Blvd.
of course they are...
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 13:22 — Mr Swann (not verified)...filtering out low (and many "average") performing students at Ral Charter.
despite what mouth-breathers will tell you about raising the cap on charters will do to be the great panacea (just after at-large BOE districts in the panacea medicine cabinet), Raleigh Charter achieves those scores because they do not admit students who are below grade level on standardised tests. Period. In other words, the worst student at RCHS is no worse than the mean (and likely median, for that matter) of students from across the state.
It's not that a school itself does much to impact SAT scores anyway; they're more a measure of home life, parents' education, and aptitude for tests. But then again, why consider the complexities of the issue when you're just out to blindly pad your pathetic anti-public school screed...?
Vantage Point?
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 18:29 — al_in_garnerMr Swann:
Do you have children currently in WCPSS?
Were they displaced by BoE decision?
vantage point?
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 21:08 — Mr Swann (not verified)No and No...and I'm not sure how that either lends or detracts from the veracity of my statements.
In fact, it certainly doesn't, for even if I had a baker's dozen of kids, it wouldn't change the admissions standards at RCHS.
deflect away.
I'm under the impression
Wed, 08/27/2008 - 17:41 — gwaihirI'm under the impression from reading the article, that not every student in WCPSS sits the SAT.
I would bet the ones that do not, are the ones achieving below grade level.
That being the case, comparing the SAT scores between WCPSS and RCHS is at least a little more useful than comparing the graduation rates, since both pools of SAT - takers have college aspirations and need to be at least at grade level to attempt the SAT.
Just wondering, but.......
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 12:29 — WuptdoJust wondering Mr. Hui, but knowing how "low" WCPSS will go to make themselves look good, do they include Raleigh Charter High Schools SAT scores in their "country-wide" average. At the State level all charter schools are treated like separate school system.
To Raleigh Charter High School -- congrats.
Yep, they're low
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 13:35 — Anonymous (not verified)So, Wuptdo, you basically accuse WCPSS of fudging results to look good. Glad Keung cleared up that Wake improved on their own. What's your next weasel way to try to advance your agenda?
Charter schools
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 12:45 — KeungHui (author)Charter schools are counted for the state average. They're not lumped in with any other school system so Raleigh Charter wouldn't be factored into Wake's score.
link
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 12:14 — KeungHui (author)I put the wrong link up before. Sorry.
Hot Link at
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 12:12 — al_in_garnerhttp://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3434699/
Something is not right with
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:51 — NCBoyMommySomething is not right with the spreadsheet.
hmmmm, not the right spread
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:19 — bigwinniehmmmm, not the right spread sheet, I don't think.
Thanks for putting this up
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:09 — Anonymous (not verified)Thanks for putting this up Mr. Hui. I can't seem to download the spreadsheet correctly. I got it up once, but it had the states listed, with no other info.