State SAT scores up slightly, PSAT’s drop; Central Park schools post respectable scores

This story on the state scores on the PSAT and SAT comes from Chalkbeat, a national nonprofit, online education news organization with bureaus in eight states including Colorado and Central Park Education News.

(For the complete Chalkbeat story on state results click here.)

Colorado students’ SAT scores ticked up slightly this year, although participation remained down — an issue that’s created a murkier picture of overall student achievement.

Meanwhile, Colorado high school students’ PSAT scores dropped this year in all but ninth grade math. (Scores from the three high schools in Central Park are below.)

Overall, the PSAT and SAT results fall short of pre-pandemic levels and underscore the difficulty educators have had in getting students caught up. Students taking the SAT this spring were eighth graders at the onset of shutdowns and experienced two years of disrupted learning. National data has shown learning loss since 2019 has been acute here and across the country, especially in math skills.

The SAT was designed as a way to understand student college readiness. The PSAT is a practice test meant to help gauge student learning and identify academic needs.

Colorado uses the PSAT and SAT exams as part of its suite of standardized exams to measure school performance and to determine whether students in grades nine through 11 have learned the necessary math and reading skills for their grade level.

From CPENews:

The SAT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions, although in recent years some colleges and universities have made the test optional for admission. The SAT is developed and administered by the College Board, a not-for-profit national organization. It runs a membership association that includes more than 6,000 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations.

A perfect SAT score is 1600, 800 in reading and writing, and in math. The average SAT score in 2022 was 1050, and just 7% of students scored above 1400, according to Prep Scholar, an online higher education test prep company.  The average 2022 score was 529 for reading and writing and 521 for the math. Out of the nearly two million students who take the test every year, only about 500 get the highest possible score.

The College Board likes to say that a good SAT score is one that helps you get admitted to a college that you want to attend.

Of the three high schools in Central Park, Northfield had the highest composite SAT score of 1,081 followed closely by DSST-Conservatory Green at 1,003 and then DSST-Montview at 983. The state average score was 990. Below are all of the three schools’ PSAT and SAT scores.

Central Park Schools 2023 PSAT & SAT Scores

(The Foundation for Sustainable Urban Communities produces CPENews and supports many Central Park public schools with grants for education programming).