Average SAT scores for 2010 varied widely among the ten public high schools in Harford County, with some schools easily besting the state and national averages and others lagging behind, according to results just released by Harford County Public Schools.
Testing skills that are learned in high school, the SAT is taken mainly by college-bound students and is designed to assess college readiness. It is the most widely used test in college admissions according to the College Board, which administers the test.
Harford County Public Schools provides the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) to all eleventh graders and offers SAT preparation as an elective class in all ten high schools. But only four of ten schools, Bel Air, C. Milton Wright, Fallston, and Patterson Mill, currently have enough student interest to hold the SAT prep classes, according to HCPS spokeswoman Teri Kranefeld. The same four schools also earned the highest average SAT scores in the county in 2010.
Critics of the SAT say that it is not the only predictor of college success, and the test unfairly discriminates against minority and low-income students. As a result of these concerns, some colleges no longer require the SAT for admission – Goucher College is a one local example.
SAT results in HCPS have long reflected underlying disparities in socio-economic status, as the schools with the highest percentage of students receiving free and reduced meals have tended to post the lowest average scores.
Nonetheless, the SAT remains one of the few national assessments taken by high school students who have college aspirations. By contrast, the Maryland High School Assessments (HSAs) measure student progress toward basic learning goals that all students must meet in order to earn a Maryland diploma.
Harford County Public Schools issued a press release Tuesday regarding the overall county scores. Responding to a request from The Dagger, HCPS also provided a breakdown of the results by school in the chart below. The chart includes the number of test-takers and their scores in all three sections of the SAT – critical reading, math and writing – each of which carries a maximum score of 800 points. Results from 2009 are also provided.
The following is the text of the press release from HCPS announcing the countywide SAT results, which have been previously reported here on The Dagger:
Harford County national test scores remain steady; participation up Harford County students scored above the state and national averages on the Critical Reading and Mathematics sections of the SAT Reasoning Test, according to data released by the College Board.
Compared to 2009, Harford County test-takers’ overall performance held steady in Critical Reading (507), increased two points in Mathematics, and dropped by five points in Writing. Harford County mean scale scores exceed the state in Critical Reading (507 versus 501) and in Mathematics (523 versus 506) while remaining below the state in Writing (483 versus 495). The mean SAT Composite earned by Harford County students in 2010 was 1513 compared to the state’s average of 1502.
The number of test-takers in Harford County also increased in 2010 with 1,440 graduates participating, an increase of 90 students from the previous year. Compared to the state, Harford County experienced a higher rate of participation in 2010 whereas Maryland saw a decrease of 192 test-takers.
“We are pleased with the progress made with regard to student participation on the SAT and AP exams,” said Superintendent Robert M. Tomback. “Harford County scores continue to outpace the state and the nation, however, we will strive to increase rigor based on the needs of our students and set expectations even higher for all instructional areas, specifically the core subject areas.”
What is so irritating about this sort of information is that it fails to mention something that I find to be extremely important. The schools with the lowest participation rate and lower scores are pretty much the schools that struggle every year to make Adequate Yearly Progress in graduation rate. So while the SATs are important in some arenas, I would rather see time and resources focused on helping students graduate, rather than those particular schools be chastised from the top HCPS leadership about why more students in their schools aren’t taking the SAT or why the scores aren’t very high. They ask, “What are you doing to increase SAT participation and scores? We can give you some ideas to work on that.” To myself I think, “Reality Check:Children need to graduate from high school before the SAT is ever going to mean anything to them.”
And those are the struggles we have in the trenches…leadership that believes in the ‘one size fits all’ mentality.
“But only four of ten schools, Bel Air, C. Milton Wright, Fallston, and Patterson Mill, currently have enough student interest to hold the SAT prep classes…The same four schools also earned the highest average SAT scores in the county in 2010.”
This tells the whole story. One can expect performance to increase where there is an interest and drive to excel. If only the student body, and especially their families, had the same interest and drive in the SATs as they had in football, we would be touting the scores of all of our schools. You get out of this life what you put into it.
Somehow this will be turned around and blamed on teachers for not stimulating the low scoring students along Rte. 40 corridor and then the police for not making sure they get the students to stay in school.
Exactly “Thank you HC”, that’s what I mean. Let’s let the schools focus on what those particular schools need. The teachers are working themselves to death to help children succeed!
AMEN!
Here’s something I find interesting: 159/160 kids at Aberdeen High School took the SATs. Assuming that nearly one third of those kids are SMA students (approximately 50 in each class), wouldn’t you think the scores would be higher? It would be wonderful if HCPS would publish those scores too so we could see how our “best and brightest” science and math students score. I, however, will not hold my breath.
So you think the rest of the Aberdeen kids are not bright?
If you assume that the other 100 students scored about the same as Joppatowne and Edgewood then the SMA kids scored in the range of 580 Reading, 610 Math, and 570 writing. It would be interesting to see the scores broken out.