Banneker HS - College and Score Outcomes

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of a credible source for information on average SAT / ACT test scores and college acceptance outcomes for Banneker? Much of what is out there seems anecdotal or of dubious origin (Niche). We are trying to decide whether to accept their offer of admission. Current students seem to be having good experiences, but it would be nice to have something tangible to inform the decision.

[Anonymous]

They list the college destinations in a document you can find on their website.

[Anonymous]

Look up DCPS SAT scores. I think on the DCPS site. There's a spreadsheet. You can also find AP scores. Walls is the only school that's just across the board higher. JR is obviously huge and high-variance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They list the college destinations in a document you can find on their website.

I’ve been searching the website and can’t find that document. If you have any more specific tips on where to locate it, please share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look up DCPS SAT scores. I think on the DCPS site. There's a spreadsheet. You can also find AP scores. Walls is the only school that's just across the board higher. JR is obviously huge and high-variance.

Thanks. Found the SAT (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat) and AP (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets) spreadsheets. The averages are indeed as you say. I would have expected Banneker to do better but I take it that there is a very long thread from a few years back on that topic.

[Anonymous]

The Banneker SAT scores listed there are from the 22-23 class. While that cohort was fabulous-- and sent plenty of kids to ivys-- they enrolled in Banneker before the move to the new building. In the new building, the school is attracting a broader student profile. Furthermore, while Walls may have higher average SAT scores it also has a significantly lower at-risk student body and since SAT scores correlate directly with household income it makes sense that those students would test higher. Meaning: it's not an attribute of the school's quality, it's an attribute of the school's higher SES families. (Walls at-risk = 12%; Banneker at-risk = 29%)

[Anonymous]

If you’re not a fan of SAT scores, use the AP scores as a guide since those test reflect content learned in the high school classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re not a fan of SAT scores, use the AP scores as a guide since those test reflect content learned in the high school classroom.

This is a good point. AP scores give good information

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Banneker SAT scores listed there are from the 22-23 class. While that cohort was fabulous-- and sent plenty of kids to ivys-- they enrolled in Banneker before the move to the new building. In the new building, the school is attracting a broader student profile. Furthermore, while Walls may have higher average SAT scores it also has a significantly lower at-risk student body and since SAT scores correlate directly with household income it makes sense that those students would test higher. Meaning: it's not an attribute of the school's quality, it's an attribute of the school's higher SES families. (Walls at-risk = 12%; Banneker at-risk = 29%)

Doing the math, this means there are ~23 more at-risk students at Banneker taking the SAT than at Walls.

[Anonymous]

Looking at the AP scores is depressing. I don't understand the idea of pushing kids who are going to get a 1 or 2 to take an AP. Is that really motivating somehow? Just seems like a waste of time and money, if not demoralizing to the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the AP scores is depressing. I don't understand the idea of pushing kids who are going to get a 1 or 2 to take an AP. Is that really motivating somehow? Just seems like a waste of time and money, if not demoralizing to the kid.

It's really bad at some schools. Whole classes where no one is getting a 3. You can see with 8th grade algebra the same phenomenon at some schools -- acceleration that's just not appropriate, classes either not matching what's on the label or being taught at a level that's totally inappropriate for the actual students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the AP scores is depressing. I don't understand the idea of pushing kids who are going to get a 1 or 2 to take an AP. Is that really motivating somehow? Just seems like a waste of time and money, if not demoralizing to the kid.

The College Board says even when they don’t score high enough to earn college credit, kids who take AP courses do better in college.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/start-expand-ap-program/expand-access/impacts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the AP scores is depressing. I don't understand the idea of pushing kids who are going to get a 1 or 2 to take an AP. Is that really motivating somehow? Just seems like a waste of time and money, if not demoralizing to the kid.

The College Board says even when they don’t score high enough to earn college credit, kids who take AP courses do better in college.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/start-expand-ap-program/expand-access/impacts

Of course the College Board says so! But is the outcome due to taking the test or the class? Is it due to taking the test or ambition? Or maybe frustration is an effective motivator....

And--surprise, surprise--students who took AP do a better job than peers *when taking a college course covering similar content*. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Banneker beats JR for SAT but not AP passage percentage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Banneker SAT scores listed there are from the 22-23 class. While that cohort was fabulous-- and sent plenty of kids to ivys-- they enrolled in Banneker before the move to the new building. In the new building, the school is attracting a broader student profile. Furthermore, while Walls may have higher average SAT scores it also has a significantly lower at-risk student body and since SAT scores correlate directly with household income it makes sense that those students would test higher. Meaning: it's not an attribute of the school's quality, it's an attribute of the school's higher SES families. (Walls at-risk = 12%; Bannekeru at-risk = 29%)

Jackson-Reed has about the same percentage of at-risk as Banneker but lower SAT test scores.