Based on the raw numbers, the state of Georgia ranks 50th - last - when it comes to SAT scores. But ranking states by SAT scores is not a wise thing to do:
Mark Musick, the president of the Southern Regional Education Association, agreed. “Georgia has a problem, it’s just not that we’re 50th.”
Musick said there is a discrepancy in states’ student loads, which makes it impossible to states’ scores. Musick used North Dakota -– the state with the top average SAT score -– as an example.
“Only 191 students took the SAT in the whole state of North Dakota. We have more students in Gwinnett County high schools, Parkview for example, than the entire state of North Dakota,” Musick said. “And those [that take the test in North Dakota] are the students who want to go to Harvard or Stanford, the hardest schools, so they only get the very top students.”
In contrast, Georgia has one of the highest percentages of students taking the SAT. Caperton compared it to giving a test to two classes.
“You only gave [the SAT] to the very best in one and you gave it to all the students in the other, well, which would look best,” he said.
Another barrier to an accurate comparison of states’ performance is that some states do not use the SAT to measure aptitude.
In North Dakota and about half the states, the ACT is the dominant test for college-bound students. Colleges can convert ACT scores to SAT scores, and once converted, according to a Southern Regional Education Association list, Georgia ranks higher than 11 other states.
Psychometricians know this, but the general population doesn't hear it enough in the media. In many southern states, all 10th- and 11th-graders are encouraged to take the SAT, whether or not they plan to go to college. This practice helps fulfill the original purpose of the SAT - to identify those kids who might not otherwise know they're college-material - but it's guaranteed to drag the averages down.
The important question is not, "What is a state's mean SAT score?" The important questions are who takes the SAT in that state, how many take the SAT, and what the plans are of those who take the SAT. That doesn't guarantee an apples-to-apples comparison, but it does prevent the comparison of Georgia's general population with the kids from North Dakota who plan to go to Harvard.
(Thanks to Devoted Reader Jim P.)
Posted by kswygert at February 24, 2004 10:17 PM