Private School SAT scores.

[Anonymous]

I was looking on Peterson's and I am a bit disappointed at the scores that I see. Many schools have average SAT scores BELOW that of the public schools in the area.
The ones that have the high scores, aren't that hot when you consider how selective they are. I mean, NCS gets to check these kids' IQs before taking them. Churchill does not (I can guarantee you that there are kids at Churchill with IQ' os 90 or lower taking the SAT). Yet Churchill posts some high scores.
I am impressed with what private schools do in some ways, but MCPS does a great job.

[Anonymous]

What were Churchill's mean scores?

[Anonymous]

This should not surprise anyone. Private schools draw people who 1) can afford them 2) who value an assortment of different things in education, For example: small class size, athletics, or different social environment and peer group than found in a public school. Some value college admittances or proximity to people who are powerful. But the values that drive people to private are all over the map.

Neither criteria one, nor criteria two is an indicator of academic excellence in a child. Put a smart kid in a public school that is good, and they will perform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was looking on Peterson's and I am a bit disappointed at the scores that I see. Many schools have average SAT scores BELOW that of the public schools in the area.
The ones that have the high scores, aren't that hot when you consider how selective they are. I mean, NCS gets to check these kids' IQs before taking them. Churchill does not (I can guarantee you that there are kids at Churchill with IQ' os 90 or lower taking the SAT). Yet Churchill posts some high scores.
I am impressed with what private schools do in some ways, but MCPS does a great job.

Public school kids take more standardized tests than private school kids. My 3rd grader in DCPS will take five this year. I assume she'll be an expert by the time she graduates, but it is not a real education. We will probably switch her to private.

[Anonymous]

My kids in a private elementary both took the ERB every year. My understanding is that even private schools need to do some testing to pass accreditation assessments, but somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

One could argue that the extra testing in public, which comes it the expense of extra teaching, is a tradeoff -- less teaching, but more test practice. Possibly the net result is zero, who knows.

[Anonymous]

What is the boost from taking standardized tests repeatedly, anyway? I honestly don't know, but I doubt it's enough to make a really significant impact.

Plus private schools offer SSAT and PSAT tutoring (one of our kids has availed herself of this). And both public and private school kids often get PSAT tutoring through Kaplan and other places, but I would imagine the percent of Kaplan students is higher in the private schools.