Middletown High Schoolers Slightly Below State Average on SATs

Middletown high schoolers this year fared below the state average by about 20 point across all three areas compared to the rest of college-bound Connecticut students who took the student achievement tests.

Connecticut’s SAT data for the class of 2013 were released today by the College Board showing that overall participation rates for public school students continue on an upward trend while also reflecting an increasing diversity among test-takers. On the whole, students posted similar average scores from last year, with slight upticks in reading and writing.

"We're pleased that more Connecticut public school students took the SAT this year than last year.  Higher participation rates on college entrance exams mean that more Connecticut public high school graduates are aiming for college, which is one of our state's key goals.  

Here in Middletown, 238 students took the SATs with an average score of 477 on critical reading, 475 on math and 480 on writing. 

There were slight improvements made statewide in critical reading, which increased by one point to 499, as well as writing which ticked up two points to 504. Mathematics, however, dropped one point to 503.

"It is especially encouraging that participation rates among students of color continue to rise in Connecticut,” said State Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor.  

“We need to ensure that more and more students—young people from every part of our state, of every income level, of every background—recognize the increasingly important role of college to their futures.  And we need to help our students prepare so they are not only successful in the college application process but are also successful in college itself.  

Statewide, the number of public school students taking the SAT in 2013 increased by 0.8 percent from 2012. At 83 percent, Connecticut’s participation rate for public school students taking this college entrance exam ranks fourth highest in the nation.

The data also show an increase in diversity among Connecticut test-takers in 2013.  By comparing the SAT participation data with the demographics on the State Department of Education’s high school graduate collection, it is estimated that the SAT participation rate for black high school graduates increased approximately six percentage points from 2011 to 2013, and that of Hispanic graduates increased approximately four percentage points during the same two-year period.

Intended to serve as an indicator for likelihood of college success, the College Board developed the SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark which is set at a total score of 1550.  According to the College Board, this benchmark score of 1550 is associated with a 65 percent probability of obtaining a first-year GPA of at least a B-.  In Connecticut, 45 percent of SAT test-takers met this benchmark, an increase of one percentage point from 2012.

In Connecticut, public school students who completed a core curriculum posted a mean score in the critical reading content area of 518 compared to a mean score of 460 for those who did not complete a core curriculum.  The corresponding mean scores in mathematics were 524 and 457 respectively, and those in the writing content area were 524 and 463 respectively.

In 2010, the State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards, a set of clearer and more rigorous expectations for what students should learn in a given grade.  Districts are at various stages of implementation of curriculum, but all are preparing for the statewide administration of the next-generation assessments aligned to these new standards in the 2014-15 school year.