FCPS 2010 SATs (Arlington, Annandale, Centreville: home, luxury, catholic schools)

[stpickrell]

Originally Posted by JEB77

There you go - am sure that Manassas City is feeling left out right now.

BTW I see now that I incorrectly labeled Broad Run as a Fairfax rather than Loudoun school.

And Manassas Park City, too.

[JD984]

Updated to reflect 2010 scores now reported by Loudoun County Public Schools and to identify Broad Run HS correctly as a Loudoun (not Fairfax) school.

TJ (Fairfax) 2200
Langley (Fairfax) 1812
George Mason (Falls Church City) 1795
McLean (Fairfax) 1778
Yorktown (Arlington) 1741
Woodson (Fairfax) 1738
Madison (Fairfax) 1734
Oakton (Fairfax) 1729
Marshall (Fairfax) 1690
Washington-Lee (Arlington) 1670
Robinson (Fairfax) 1665
Chantilly (Fairfax) 1663
West Springfield (Fairfax) 1644
Herndon (Fairfax) 1642
Lake Braddock (Fairfax) 1639
Stone Bridge (Loudoun) 1639
Fairfax (Fairfax) 1635
Potomac Falls (Loudoun) 1626
Westfield (Fairfax) 1625
Loudoun Valley (Loudoun) 1622
Broad Run (Loudoun) 1611
Dominion (Loudoun) 1607
Loudoun County (Loudoun) 1607
Briar Woods (Loudoun) 1598
Centreville (Fairfax) 1596
Brentsville (PW) 1596
Osbourn Park (PW) 1587
Colonial Forge (Stafford) 1581
South Lakes (Fairfax) 1578
South County (Fairfax) 1572
West Potomac (Fairfax) 1561
Battlefield (PW) 1559
Heritage (Loudoun) 1559
Freedom (Loudoun) 1543
Forest Park (PW) 1537
Stuart (Fairfax) 1532
VIRGINIA AVERAGE 1521
Annandale (Fairfax) 1518
Edison (Fairfax) 1512
Stafford (Stafford) 1509
NATIONAL AVERAGE 1509
Falls Church (Fairfax) 1505
Mountain View (Stafford) 1505
Lee (Fairfax) 1504
Brooke Point (Stafford) 1499
Woodbridge (PW) 1497
Wakefield (Arlington) 1484
Park View (Loudoun) 1474
North Stafford (Stafford) 1473
Stonewall Jackson (PW) 1467
Hayfield (Fairfax) 1475
Hylton (PW) 1467
Mount Vernon (Fairfax) 1458
TC Williams (Alexandria City) 1442
Gar-Field (PW) 1440
Potomac (PW) 1408
Freedom (PW) 1310

Color Code:

Fairfax - Blue
Arlington - Pink
Loudoun - Red
Prince William - Green
Stafford - Brown
Cities of Falls Church/Alexandria - Black [/quote]

[Nemesis16]

^ Those rankings prove that the more a family's household earns the higher the SAT score.

[claremarie]

If you pulled up the percentage of low-income kids in each school, you'd find a very close (inverse) correlation with the SAT scores.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by claremarie

If you pulled up the percentage of low-income kids in each school, you'd find a very close (inverse) correlation with the SAT scores.

This is generally the case, though in a number of instances, schools with higher percentages of low-income students outperform schools with lower percentages. Here are the Fairfax rankings with the percentage of students receiving subsidized lunches noted parenthetically.

1.TJ 2200 (2.1%)
2.Langley 1812 (1.3%)
3.McLean 1778 (7.9%)
4.Woodson 1738 (7.2%)
5.Madison 1734 (6.0%)
6.Oakton 1729 (7.9%)
7.Marshall 1690 (15.4%)
8.Robinson 1665 (10.6%)
9.Chantilly 1663 (12.7%)
10.West Springfield 1644 (10.0%)
11.Herndon 1642 (22.7%)
12.Lake Braddock 1639 (13.7%)
13.Fairfax 1635 (20.3%)
14.Westfield 1625 (14.6%)
15.Centreville 1596 (16.2%)
16.South Lakes 1578 (29.0%)
17.South County 1572 (13.1%)
18.West Potomac 1561 (32.1%)
19.Stuart 1532 (48.0%)
20.Annandale 1518 (42.0%)
21.Edison 1512 (27.0%)
22.Falls Church 1505 (40.4%)
23.Lee 1504 (36.8%)
24.Hayfield 1475 (21.5%)
25.Mount Vernon 1458 (39.1%)

If you really wanted a robust predictive model, you'd have to take other factors into account besides the percentage of lower-income students, such as the average income levels of all students at each school who actually take these tests. That would tend to shed more light on how, for example, South Lakes has higher average scores than South County even though it has more than twice as many low-income students.

Of course, at the end of the day, individual students take SATs, not a school building.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Nemesis16

^ Those rankings prove that the more a family's household earns the higher the SAT score.

Well, that's actually not true in all cases. My wife came here as a refugee, and her score (which I don't recall right off) was high enough to get her a full ride to UVA--at age 16. Her dad had to drive a cab to feed the family.

My own family was very middle class (3BR/2BA house, used cars, etc.), yet my brother and I both did very well on the SAT. (OK, so I bombed the math section. I made up for it on the verbal!)

My godfather grew up picking cotton in Texas--and while I don't know what his SAT score was (if he even took it around 1937), he got a PhD in history and became a college president.

Truly, the common factor in student success is parental emphasis on academic achievement. This does largely parallel income for most of the population--but there's a lot of people it doesn't apply to (e.g., 90% of Asian immigrants).

[kutra11]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Truly, the common factor in student success is parental emphasis on academic achievement. This does largely parallel income for most of the population--but there's a lot of people it doesn't apply to (e.g., 90% of Asian immigrants).

Yes, but "parental emphasis on academic achievement" comes naturally for highly-educated parents (who because of their education are high-cincome earners). Another reason for "parental emphasis on academic achievement" is from parents who are living tough lives because of their nill/minimal education and do not want their kids to go through that life style. I commend the latter group, but their % numbers are still much lesser.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Well, that's actually not true in all cases. My wife came here as a refugee, and her score (which I don't recall right off) was high enough to get her a full ride to UVA--at age 16. Her dad had to drive a cab to feed the family.

My own family was very middle class (3BR/2BA house, used cars, etc.), yet my brother and I both did very well on the SAT. (OK, so I bombed the math section. I made up for it on the verbal!)

My godfather grew up picking cotton in Texas--and while I don't know what his SAT score was (if he even took it around 1937), he got a PhD in history and became a college president.

Truly, the common factor in student success is parental emphasis on academic achievement. This does largely parallel income for most of the population--but there's a lot of people it doesn't apply to (e.g., 90% of Asian immigrants).

Finally! Thanks, Carlingtonian!

Yes--money, ambition and power does result in influence (though that can lead down the wrong road), but it does not automatically guarantee intelligence or success.

My student did outstanding on the SATs, actually. So no need to throw barbs my way. But I feel that there is more to a person's value, success, or contribution to the world than what he/she scores on a standardized test. It's narrow-minded to view schools or people solely on scores. As JEB77 says, these are still individuals taking the tests. Does moving a student from a school with a lower SAT average to a school higher on the list make a huge difference in that student's score or experience at school? Sometimes it can't, sometimes it can. It depends on the individual.

Students who attend those elite private schools like Sidwell, Georgetown Day, etc. get in because of who their parents are/influential connections. That's not what gets a student into TJ. From that perspective, a private school student may struggle more later in life when they fail to live up to the success that the private school connections were supposed to bring them. A TJ student, on the other hand, had to work for success.

[claremarie]

Originally Posted by JEB77

If you really wanted a robust predictive model, you'd have to take other factors into account besides the percentage of lower-income students, such as the average income levels of all students at each school who actually take these tests. That would tend to shed more light on how, for example, South Lakes has higher average scores than South County even though it has more than twice as many low-income students. [/font]

Of course, at the end of the day, individual students take SATs, not a school building.

Thanks for putting this together. Very interesting. You're right that percentage of low-income students doesn't tell you the whole picture. There is a difference between students from low-income but well-educated intact immigrant families, and students living with native-born low-income single parent families.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Thanks for putting this together. Very interesting. You're right that percentage of low-income students doesn't tell you the whole picture. There is a difference between students from low-income but well-educated intact immigrant families, and students living with native-born low-income single parent families.

Very true.

I think, overall though, there is a definite trend in the numbers. Lower SAT scores with higher subsidized lunches.

Since I don't live in Fairfax I can't speak to the schools there, but in Prince William, the lowest scoring high schools (Potomac and Freedom) pull predominantly from very low income areas. Not only are they low income, they are also from areas where there's probably not two parents involved in the student's life (if there's even one). Since I drive through those areas regularly you can see what I mean. There's also a fairly decent disparity between Potomac and Freedom in scores. It is my understanding that not only does Freedom have (or had) a large percentage of subsized lunch (= low income) they also have a large percentage of ESOL students which, like it or not, is going to affect your SAT score.

Basically there are many kids in these schools who don't care and whose parents don't care. There is no value in education to them. The fact that they are impoverished probably feeds into that attitude. But I know as well as anybody that poor doesn't equate to bad attitude. We've all heard of the poor, salt-of-the-earth folks that are honest, hardworking, and want to better themselves. I'm just not thinking that they are in the majority at the schools I am familiar with.