2012 SAT Scores Updated w/Loudoun Information (Arlington, Alexandria: neighborhoods, middle school, universities)

[JEB77]

FYI - update of information on the other thread with information for LCPS added.

Here are the 2012 SAT scores for City of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County and Loudoun County schools, as reported by the College Board (Blue = Fairfax; Red = Arlington; Purple = City of Alexandria; Green = Loudoun). Note that some school systems recalculate the numbers so that they exclude, for example, students who took the test at a particular school, but who were home-schooled or moved out of a jurisdiction prior to graduating. Standard caveat: those who consider such information irrelevant (since, among other things, individual students, not schools, take SATs, and some colleges and universities no longer even require students to take them) should feel free to ignore it.

TJHSST 2186
HB Woodlawn 1828
Langley 1812
McLean 1755
Woodson 1754
Oakton 1753
Yorktown 1747
Madison 1730
Marshall 1702
Lake Braddock 1669
Robinson 1666
West Springfield 1660
FCPS AVERAGE 1659
Loudoun Valley 1652
Stone Bridge 1649
Briar Woods 1645
Chantilly 1644
Herndon 1641
APS AVERAGE 1641
Dominion 1639
Centreville 1637
Loudoun County 1632
Woodgrove 1625
Westfield 1623
Washington-Lee 1622
Fairfax 1613
South Lakes 1609
South County 1603
Potomac Falls 1593
Freedom 1591
LCPS AVERAGE 1590
Broad Run 1588
Heritage 1572
West Potomac 1556
Tuscarora 1553
Hayfield 1519
Annandale 1516
STATE AVERAGE 1510
Edison 1498
Falls Church 1485
NATIONAL AVERAGE 1477
Stuart 1471
Lee 1468
Park View 1447
TC Williams/ACPS AVERAGE 1436
Mount Vernon 1400
Wakefield 1398

As in prior years, with the exception of the scores at Park View, the SAT scores for the Loudoun schools vary less than is the case among the Arlington or Fairfax schools.

[newnewsmama]

Thanks a lot for posting this information.

[newnewsmama]

I think TJ's score should be removed from Fairfax's average to make the comparison more meaningful.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by newnewsmama

I think TJ's score should be removed from Fairfax's average to make the comparison more meaningful.

Based on information published by FCPS regarding the number of seniors at FCPS schools in 2011-12, and the percentage of seniors who took the SAT, I did a rough calculation. It appeared that, if TJ students were excluded altogether, the FCPS average would be around 1629, rather than 1659. A quick check suggests this is probably a decent estimate, since 12 of the non-TJ schools in FCPS had averages above 1629 and 12 of the non-TJ schools had averages below 1629.

On the other hand, about 80% of TJ students live in Fairfax. If one simply excluded, say, the scores of 20% of TJ students who live outside Fairfax (assuming their scores were average for TJ) from an analysis, the FPCS average would be around 1653. You could look at that approach as indicating what the average would be if TJ only admitted Fairfax students, or if TJ's Fairfax students were reassigned to their base schools (which would then have higher averages).

Much of this is playing with numbers, of course. If TJ did not exist in its current form, some of the TJ students who currently live in Fairfax might live elsewhere.

[globalburgh]

Of interest to me is the distribution, or spread, of the Fairfax SAT scores. It indicates huge income disparity based on school cache. That's not healthy.

[Darkseid]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Much of this is playing with numbers, of course. If TJ did not exist in its current form, some of the TJ students who currently live in Fairfax might live elsewhere.

Honestly, I personally don't see why so much weight is put on average SAT/ACT scores at a particular school when one's individual child must do well in his/her own right.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by globalburgh

Of interest to me is the distribution, or spread, of the Fairfax SAT scores. It indicates huge income disparity based on school cache. That's not healthy.

It comes with being an older suburb. There's a similar spread in Arlington (compare Yorktown to Wakefield) and, while the scores for Montgomery County aren't reflected, the spreads over there between the schools in Bethesda/Potomac and parts of Silver Spring and Wheaton are even wider.

The picture in Loudoun is quite different, because so much of the growth is recent and there's less variation in the bulk of the housing. In some respects, Arlington, Fairfax and Montgomery look more like the rest of the country, with its disparities, and Loudoun looks more like Denmark (with, of course, more conservative politicians).

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by Darkseid

Honestly, I personally don't see why so much weight is put on average SAT/ACT scores at a particular school when one's individual child must do well in his/her own right.

That's why I added the caveat at the beginning of the thread.

Realistically, people look at these scores as a proxy for areas with large and small cohorts of high-achieving students, which typically, but not always, is strongly correlated with income levels. Some people want their kids to attend schools with very large peer groups of motivated students, and others are fine so long as their kids can find their niche, which they typically can do at just about any suburban HS in NoVa.

Anyway, how many color-coded posts do you see on the NoVa forum? Almost as much fun as sitting through an 8 AM PowerPoint presentation!

[globalburgh]

Originally Posted by JEB77

It comes with being an older suburb. There's a similar spread in Arlington (compare Yorktown to Wakefield) and, while the scores for Montgomery County aren't reflected, the spreads over there between the schools in Bethesda/Potomac and parts of Silver Spring and Wheaton are even wider.

The picture in Loudoun is quite different, because so much of the growth is recent and there's less variation in the bulk of the housing.

Even wider in Maryland? Your age theory makes sense. I can see the beginnings of the same pattern in Loudoun's scores. All very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[hilsmom]

I think quite a few of schools scores would go up if the TJ students scores were attributed to their base school. I'm not suggesting we do this, of course, I'm just saying that several schools are in the mid-range but send a large cadre from their area to TJ rather than the base HS. For instance, we live down the street from Rocky Run Middle, which according to news reports sends the 2nd highest number of students to TJ of any middle school in the county. Based on this, I think Chantilly's scores would be higher without the magnet.

Yes, there are huge income disparities in FCPS. SAT/ACT scores are correlated highly with HHI/SES. People cluster in neighborhoods and areas with others of similar means, generally. And then the areas that aren't as well off start getting slammed on boards like these are called rough with "bad schools" because of the makeup of the student body. Of course, take a look at those scores and a good deal of them are above even the state average (South Lakes and Annandale are good examples).

And anyone who knows anything about ed policy will tell you that schools with high poverty come with their own challenges that schools in middle class and up areas just don't have to even think about.

But, I digress. I adore your color coding, JEB. It makes me happy. From one stats nerd to another.