Higher SAT Scores and Beyond….
A new day-long Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) preparation program and free school-administered Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests (PSAT) for high school juniors are just two of the ways Prince William County High Schools are working to raise the scores of college-bound students taking the SAT.
“We want SAT scores that reflect the same high level of student achievement we’re seeing on the Virginia Standards of Learning exams, or in all the kids taking rigorous Advanced Placement, Cambridge, and International Baccalaureate Programs,” says Associate Superintendent for Student Learning and Accountability, Pam Gauch. “They have the knowledge and the skills; we want to help them get the scores that prove it to the colleges of their choice.”
A PWCS task force working on the issue finds a strong correlation between student performance and the investment of other area school divisions in efforts to prepare them for the unique aspects of the SAT. While individual Prince William County high schools currently offer differing levels of test preparation for their students, the beginnings of a more unified approach are already taking shape.
For the first time in 2005, the School Board funded administration of the PSAT to high school juniors at no cost to students; the test provides exposure to SAT-style questions, offering a valuable glimpse of student strengths and weakness in a pressure-filled test environment. Another first will come this spring with the PWCS-funded local offering of the renowned Beating the Odds on the SAT preparation program for up to 300 County students.
The task force is expected to recommend additional Divisionwide efforts, ranging from still more test preparation programs for students and possibly for parents, to new local SAT locations, where test-takers can avoid a tiring pre-exam journey. The effort will also explore more than short-term strategies.
“The more we improve our curriculum, the more we’ll improve student scores across the board, says Gauch.” “In the long term, we’ll be figuring out how to get more high school students enrolled in higher level math courses and how to make every class build on the last to help students develop critical thinking skills. This is about more than SAT scores-it’s about delivering on our promise of providing a World-class education. And that’s a promise we have every intention of keeping.
2/22/06
