2010-11 SAT Scores Top NC and US; ACT Also Strong
September 14, 2011 - Wake County Public School System seniors continue to achieve high scores on the SAT, according to results released today by the College Board. WCPSS students continue to outscore other students around the state and across the nation.
In 2011, the College Board changed its rules for reporting SAT scores. In previous years, the cohort only included students who were tested through March of their senior year. In 2011, the College Board included test-takers through June. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has advised that comparisons with previous years’ results cannot be made with fidelity. Should the College Board release comparable district-level data from previous years, then direct year-over-year comparisons will be possible.
"The concrete comparison we can make is this: we have the highest SAT participation rate and scores among large North Carolina districts," said Superintendent Tony Tata. "That's a great combination, and it speaks to the skill of our college-bound and career-ready seniors and the teachers who prepared them for success."
WCPSS Compared to State and Nation
The WCPSS average score of 1568 is 93 points higher than the North Carolina average and 68 points higher than the U.S. average.
Critical Reading |
Math |
Writing |
Total |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCPSS | 521 |
544 |
503 |
1568 |
| NC | 493 |
508 |
474 |
1475 |
| US | 497 |
514 |
489 |
1500 |
Seventy-four percent of WCPSS's graduating seniors took the SAT. The WCPSS participation rate in 2010-11 was higher than the North Carolina participation rate of 67 percent and the U.S. participation rate of 50 percent. The College Board reports that 6,577 WCPSS seniors took the exam, which is a participation rate of 75.9 percent of enrolled students.
WCPSS and Other North Carolina School Systems
WCPSS scores were significantly higher than similar large North Carolina school districts. WCPSS total average scores (critical reading, math and writing) were 86 points higher than Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 97 points higher than Forsyth, 123 points higher than Guilford, and 178 points higher than Cumberland.
Critical Reading |
Math |
Critical Reading + Math |
Writing |
Total (CR+M+W) |
Participation Rate |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCPSS | 521 |
544 |
1065 |
503 |
1568 |
74% |
| Mecklenburg | 495 |
507 |
1002 |
480 |
1482 |
69% |
| Forsyth | 493 |
506 |
999 |
472 |
1471 |
66% |
| Guilford | 484 |
493 |
977 |
468 |
1445 |
71% |
| Cumberland | 469 |
476 |
945 |
445 |
1390 |
56% |
SAT
The SAT is a national exam offered through the College Board. The exam is designed to measure a student's chance of success at the college level.
This is the sixth year of the three-section SAT with math, critical reading, and writing. The writing section includes an essay and multiple-choice questions on writing. The critical reading section is different from the old verbal section. The analogies section has been dropped, and a new sentence completion section has been added. While the analogies section was eliminated, analogical reasoning was not; questions of this nature are embedded in the short reading passages. In the math section, Algebra II content was added and quantitative comparisons were eliminated.
The College Board has maintained a scoring system of a total of 800 points per section. On the two sections of the old test, a perfect score would have been 1600. Students can now score up to 800 on each of three sections, for a perfect score of 2400.
ACT Results Also Strong
ACT participation in WCPSS rose for the fourth consecutive year totaling 1,491 students in 2011. WCPSS' average composite score remained at 23.0 while small increases were seen in English (22.1) and Math (23.7) when compared to 2010 results. Nationally, the average composite score was 21.1, 20.6 in English, and 21.1 in Math. WCPSS students outperformed students statewide, as well as nationally, overall, and on each component of the 2011 ACT. The highest score on the ACT is 36.