Looking at income VS SAT scores in Florida (Jacksonville, University: high school, university)

[daedalo]

I looked at the issue of Florida Schools’ academic performance a few years ago, so here is an update to that effort.

The state proficiency tests are one measure, and ALL Nassau County Schools (where I live) are doing very well on this count*, but I think another (methinks better) measure of how well schools are doing is how well a student does on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), traditionally called the college boards. (The statistics on the SAT I am providing below can be found at the SAT website). College is the best predictor of one’s economic success, not whether one can graduate from high school with the minimum knowledge defined by a state high school proficiency test. One predictor determining some success on the SAT appears to depend on family income. Let’s compare how Florida as a whole is doing vs Massachusetts, a small state with small towns and school systems outside of Boston/Worcester/Springfield. Lets assume an “average” family income in the Jacksonville metro of $78,000. Students in Florida with that family income on average scored an average of 501 on the verbal and math sections of the SAT (in 2008). But students with families having an equivalent income in the Boston metro ($110,000) had test scores averaging 526, which was the same score as students in Florida with a family income of $150,000**.

At least two-thirds of the incoming 2009 freshman class at University of Florida scored at least 600 on the verbal or quantitative sections of the SAT. What percentage of all state high school seniors scored 600 or higher in Florida and Massachusetts, good enough to get into UF(GPA also is very important at UF), only the 49th ranked university in the country? 20% of high school graduates in Florida in 2008 scored 600 or better on either the verbal or math portions of the SAT. In Massachusetts more than double the Florida percentage scored that well, 43%. Now only 54% of all high school graduates took the SAT in Florida, while 83% took it in MA. Based on that (yes there are other measures of this), clearly most students are looking to go on to a four year college in Masssachusetts, while only slightly more than half in Florida are considering it seriously enough to even take the test. Eastern Massachusetts is cold and expensive, the antithesis of Florida.

This makes one pause and reflect on choices of income, location and education when planning a family. Florida currently educates best for a service economy not one sustained by a knowledge-based economy.

*I have links for all data.