Frisco ISD Students Continue to Excel on SAT Exam

[Aceraceae]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

You knew I had these in spreadsheets, right? These numbers are from the 2011-12 school year, so they're a little dated, but unless I'm messing up, I've got Plano West's SAT participation rate at 87.3%, Plano Sr. at 78.2%, and Plano East at 70.6%.

HPHS was at 94.4%, Carroll Sr. at 93.4%, Coppell at 85.7%. I wouldn't be surprised if almost everyone at HPHS who didn't take the SAT took the ACT instead. Flower Mound was 81.8%, Pearce 76.7%. Marcus 87.1%. Oh Colleyville was 89%, and Grapevine somewhere in the mid 80's.

As for Frisco schools - Centennial was 67.9%. Frisco about 65%. Liberty 68.7%, Wakeland 72.3%.

McKinney, which had similar test results to Frisco, had 80.8% for Boyd, 76.8% for McKinney and 77.3% for North.

So, the very top schools generally were upper 80's to low 90's in participation rates, the schools a tier below that were upper lows to just over 80.

But Frisco schools were right around 70%.

Again, I haven't checked the latest numbers on this metric. Frisco may be improving participation rates as well as total scores. But at a glance, they not only trail to top tier in averages, but they've been trailing their peers in particpation rate. Again, Frisco is still better than the vast majority of ISDs...but they should not be considered "elite" or whatever term one reserves for the very best public districts. As of now one can easily argue that McKinney is a better overall district, and that district does not have nearly as many outspoken proponents (make no mistake, McKinney is fine district that puts up very good results, but you don't hear anyone saying it's as good as Plano).

Facts. They are delicious.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by Aceraceae

Facts. They are delicious.

I prefer facts to rumors and making stuff up.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

You knew I had these in spreadsheets, right? These numbers are from the 2011-12 school year, so they're a little dated, but unless I'm messing up, I've got Plano West's SAT participation rate at 87.3%, Plano Sr. at 78.2%, and Plano East at 70.6%.

HPHS was at 94.4%, Carroll Sr. at 93.4%, Coppell at 85.7%. I wouldn't be surprised if almost everyone at HPHS who didn't take the SAT took the ACT instead. Flower Mound was 81.8%, Pearce 76.7%. Marcus 87.1%. Oh Colleyville was 89%, and Grapevine somewhere in the mid 80's.

As for Frisco schools - Centennial was 67.9%. Frisco about 65%. Liberty 68.7%, Wakeland 72.3%.

McKinney, which had similar test results to Frisco, had 80.8% for Boyd, 76.8% for McKinney and 77.3% for North.

So, the very top schools generally were upper 80's to low 90's in participation rates, the schools a tier below that were upper 70's to just over 80.

But Frisco schools were right around 70%.

Again, I haven't checked the latest numbers on this metric. Frisco may be improving participation rates as well as total scores. But at a glance, they not only trail to top tier in averages, but they've been trailing their peers in particpation rate. Again, Frisco is still better than the vast majority of ISDs...but they should not be considered "elite" or whatever term one reserves for the very best public districts. As of now one can easily argue that McKinney is a better overall district, and that district does not have nearly as many outspoken proponents (make no mistake, McKinney is fine district that puts up very good results, but you don't hear anyone saying it's as good as Plano).

Excellent info. I left a message with a lady I know at PW who will know current numbers. I post them when I get them.

[M.abus]

Originally Posted by Souleiado

As a parent you want your child to achieve at his best , and yes SAT are important but the overall education is more important

True. Not everyone is interested in their children being a part of the so-called elite schools and their mindset.

[J800]

Completely off-topic, but we had to hire a few interns at my job earlier this month. One spot was reserved for a college freshman. We had about 150-175 applicants. I noticed that some of the kids who applied had excellent SAT scores and academic credentials listed on their resumes. They were only freshmen in college so SAT scores were required.

A few of the applicants were very book smart, but when they were called in, a good amount of them could not solve simple critical thinking problems that were presented in a non-academic way. The person we ended up hiring had a mediocre freshman year, but absolutely nailed it in the interview and real-world technical assessment. If we filtered out the person based on his/her GPA and SAT score we would have missed out on a great candidate. Some people just don't do well with standardized tests and academia, which is understandable.

[frenzyrider]

Originally Posted by J800

Completely off-topic, but we had to hire a few interns at my job earlier this month. One spot was reserved for a college freshman. We had about 150-175 applicants. I noticed that some of the kids who applied had excellent SAT scores and academic credentials listed on their resumes. They were only freshmen in college so SAT scores were required.

A few of the applicants were very book smart, but when they were called in, a good amount of them could not solve simple critical thinking problems that were presented in a non-academic way. The person we ended up hiring had a mediocre freshman year, but absolutely nailed it in the interview and real-world technical assessment. If we filtered out the person based on his/her GPA and SAT score we would have missed out on a great candidate. Some people just don't do well with standardized tests and academia, which is understandable.

But that would assume that you have a great interview process. I am not supporting or denying your assertion but there is a reason that top companies go to top colleges for recruitment. Does exception happen? Absolutely.

[J800]

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

But that would assume that you have a great interview process. I am not supporting or denying your assertion but there is a reason that top companies go to top colleges for recruitment. Does exception happen? Absolutely.

You basically restated what I just said, in regards to the "exceptions" part. Yes, there are exceptions..and yes, our interview process separates the "rockstars" from the bookworms.

We recruit at Rice and UT primarily. The whole point behind my story was that things shouldn't be strictly based off of scores. They can be deceiving at times. That's all I'm saying.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by J800

You basically restated what I just said, in regards to the "exceptions" part. Yes, there are exceptions..and yes, our interview process separates the "rockstars" from the bookworms.

We recruit at Rice and UT primarily. The whole point behind my story was that things shouldn't be strictly based off of scores. They can be deceiving at times. That's all I'm saying.

SAT scores aren't everything but they are the best way to compare schools across districts and states. They are also the best indicator of college preparedness- not the only indicator, and certainly not fail proof- but the best indicator over time. I know people who scored 1500's and ended up in rehab for alcoholism with no real career path/ direction and I know people who scored 1200's who ended up at top graduate programs and are captains of industry. But in general, the higher the score, the more successful in college and beyond.

The PSAT drives the National Merit competition which is the best way to compare the amount of elite students from one school to another. When you know the competition awards the top .5%, it's easy to benchmark schools who have .2%, 1.5%, or 4% of class earning NMSF distinction.

[austingal34]

I recently moved to Austin from Dallas, TX where I attended Frisco ISD. Frisco ISD is a joke compared to Plano or HP. My older sister graduated from Wakeland High School in 2006 and was accepted into UT. She struggled immensely to receive As or Bs in college. She had perfect grades and was very involved in high school (drum major, theatre, chior, academic decathlon). If her grades were this high in high school, why would she sturggle so much in college? Frisco ISD does not prepare their students for the college. As a former student, I can say the work was simple and not the least bit challenging. It is also very rare to find an experienced teacher who knows what they are doing. Many of my teachers were lazy and seemed like they showed up to their job to recieve a paycheck. My family is extremely upset and unimpressed with Frisco ISD.While living in Dallas, I had friends who went to school in Plano and HP. They seemed to have more complex and difficult homework than I did. Plano ISD offers IB courses (way harder than AP), Frisco ISD does not. ( I don't know about HP). At the time I was happy that my workload was less than my friends, but now I'm regretting it. Currently, I'm a junior in Travis ISD, and crossing my fingers for an acceptance letter from UT or Rice. (The education is more difficult in Travis ISD than Frisco).