S.A.T. Administration in MCPS High Schools

[Anonymous]

Earlier this week, MCPS administered the SAT to all high school juniors. Students who opted not to take the test were given the option to take a free voucher to take the ACT on their own time. I'm just curious as to what all of you think of having your tax dollars go toward this initiative. I personally have reservations about it. Though I understand that MCPS is trying to increase access to the test to students who might not otherwise take it, it also bothers me that we are spending a great deal of school time and ample $$ to give this test during the school day. I feel that students who wish to go to college should show some initiative to do so. Signing up for, paying for (or showing need and obtaining funding for), and scheduling and taking the SAT outside of school are one way that students can do this. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Oh come on - it's terrific, provides another opportunity (or in some cases the only opportunity) to take the SAT for students.

MCPS wants our students to be successful at college and wants them to attend good schools - so they provide this chance to improve everyone's scores and work toward that goal. Doesn't seem like a bad goal to me.

-mom of high school junior

[Anonymous]

I think wealthy students of highly educated parents are seen as "taking the initiative" to apply to college, when we know that their parents are very, very involved. These parents sign up their kids for the test AND the test prep, drive them to the test site, provide them with their sharpened pencils and snack, pick them up at the end of the test, and write the check to pay for it all. Why not make it easier for everyone else to take the test, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Earlier this week, MCPS administered the SAT to all high school juniors. Students who opted not to take the test were given the option to take a free voucher to take the ACT on their own time. I'm just curious as to what all of you think of having your tax dollars go toward this initiative. I personally have reservations about it. Though I understand that MCPS is trying to increase access to the test to students who might not otherwise take it, it also bothers me that we are spending a great deal of school time and ample $$ to give this test during the school day. I feel that students who wish to go to college should show some initiative to do so. Signing up for, paying for (or showing need and obtaining funding for), and scheduling and taking the SAT outside of school are one way that students can do this. Thoughts?

+100, I’d rather see the money spent on extra electives or another classroom teacher for smaller sizes.

[Anonymous]

No one why there were all those $100 SAT voucher sales in craigslist. Right next to the $50 Obamacare free breast pumps.

[Anonymous]

It bothers me that by administering the SAT in schools, MCPS is supporting a private company. It also bothers me that a full day of instruction was disrupted for 9th, 10th, and 12th graders in order to put $$ in the pocket of the College Board. Does anyone know how much MCPS paid for this?

[Anonymous]

Taking the SAT at school in familiar surroundings was so much less stressful for my junior. Hoping for a score bump just from that.

[Anonymous]

My junior had the opposite experience, saying he felt distracted taking the test with his peers in his homeroom.

[Anonymous]

In theory I think it's great for the reasons of providing equal opportunity etc.

In practice, it was incredibly disruptive for kids in all the other grades, whose day was cut to 3 30-minute classes (one of those being PE for my freshman.) Plus MCPS only disseminated the news about this testing date a couple of weeks ago, and the logistics were terrible -- for my kid's HS, if you were not a junior taking the SATs you had to spend the day sitting in the gym doing nothing or find your own transportation to school at 1245 for those epic 90 minutes of instruction. I saw a lot of kids walking past my house (several miles from our HS) -- presumably they had no other way there. And from I heard, many kids didn't show at all. So everyone lost a day of instruction. It's not clear to me that this was a win-win overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In theory I think it's great for the reasons of providing equal opportunity etc.

In practice, it was incredibly disruptive for kids in all the other grades, whose day was cut to 3 30-minute classes (one of those being PE for my freshman.) Plus MCPS only disseminated the news about this testing date a couple of weeks ago, and the logistics were terrible -- for my kid's HS, if you were not a junior taking the SATs you had to spend the day sitting in the gym doing nothing or find your own transportation to school at 1245 for those epic 90 minutes of instruction. I saw a lot of kids walking past my house (several miles from our HS) -- presumably they had no other way there. And from I heard, many kids didn't show at all. So everyone lost a day of instruction. It's not clear to me that this was a win-win overall.

Everyone should really teach their kids how to use the county bus system to at least be able to get themselves to and from school when necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In theory I think it's great for the reasons of providing equal opportunity etc.

In practice, it was incredibly disruptive for kids in all the other grades, whose day was cut to 3 30-minute classes (one of those being PE for my freshman.) Plus MCPS only disseminated the news about this testing date a couple of weeks ago, and the logistics were terrible -- for my kid's HS, if you were not a junior taking the SATs you had to spend the day sitting in the gym doing nothing or find your own transportation to school at 1245 for those epic 90 minutes of instruction. I saw a lot of kids walking past my house (several miles from our HS) -- presumably they had no other way there. And from I heard, many kids didn't show at all. So everyone lost a day of instruction. It's not clear to me that this was a win-win overall.

Everyone should really teach their kids how to use the county bus system to at least be able to get themselves to and from school when necessary.

Yup. And a couple miles' walk on a nice day won't hurt high school students either.

At my kid's high school, in addition to the SAT tests, there were also practice AP tests for the AP classes mostly seniors take.

[Anonymous]

I think it's good that all students have the opportunity to take the SAT. I would love to see some of those students who just hung out in the cafeteria in a classroom getting started on SAT prep with Kahn Academy. Or direct instruction on SAT math tricks or grammar rules for the SAT writing portion. I know that it's hard for schools to take care of a very broad population while still providing a quiet test environment for the juniors. Maybe field trips next time for freshmen and sophomores? Heck, some of the field trips could even be to colleges.

[Anonymous]

My (great)nephew went to FCPS and part of their English homework (or maybe even in class work) was to write the common app essay and complete the common app. I think they did school administered SATs too. This is seriously what prompted him to apply to college. His father didn't go to college and his mother got a two year degree from NVCC so he wasn't really encouraged or considering it before. So if it takes the school system pushing kids to apply to college whose families aren't then I think that's a good thing. While not all kids should be going to college, there are plenty of kids who should who aren't on that path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My (great)nephew went to FCPS and part of their English homework (or maybe even in class work) was to write the common app essay and complete the common app. I think they did school administered SATs too. This is seriously what prompted him to apply to college. His father didn't go to college and his mother got a two year degree from NVCC so he wasn't really encouraged or considering it before. So if it takes the school system pushing kids to apply to college whose families aren't then I think that's a good thing. While not all kids should be going to college, there are plenty of kids who should who aren't on that path.

I would also the students to hear a presentation about public and private colleges that give the most merit aid and what kind of scores (GPA and SAT's) are necessary to get those awards. They could also hear about the specific universities that give the most financial aid and what it takes to get into those schools. Most kids (without super-involved and knowledgeable parents) don't have a clue.

[Anonymous]

I think the PTA pays for this, by the way.

Also I 100% agree with the poster who said the students should also be given some basic test prep instruction, walked through the Kahn academy prep, etc. Ignoring the recent college admissions scandal, the SAT/ACT have basically become a test of who can pay for the best prep and it is not fair to the students who do not have the means or knowledge about this.