<p>Oh, here we go (this is from the College</a> Board):
*Equivalent scores are those with the same percentile ranks for a common group of test takers.</p>
<p>A concordance table is dependent upon the sample used to establish the relationship between two sets of scores. Other available SAT I - ACT tables use different samples of colleges and students than this table, resulting in slightly different equivalent scores. For this reason, the best concordance table is one that is established for and used by a specific institution.</p>
<p>SAT I scores do not cover the full range of the ACT scale due to differences in how percentiles are distributed at the top and bottom of the two scales.</p>
<p>Data are based on 103,525 test takers who took the both the SAT I and the ACT Assessment between October 1994 and December 1996.*</p>
<p>Going back to the original post:
[quote]
For example, a 98% on the ACT is 31. Most people say a 31 ACT is equivalent to a 1380. But a 1380 isn't 98% for SAT.
[/quote]
I think when they say "Equivalent scores are those with the same percentile ranks for a common group of test takers," they mean that if a 31 and a 1380 have the same percentile rank for the sample group, which must include only those who took both tests, then those scores are equivalent--even though they may represent different percentile ranks among all test takers.</p>
<p>I was surprised when I looked at SAT participation rates among different states (<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/press/senior01/html/pdf/table3.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/press/senior01/html/pdf/table3.pdf</a>) because it turns out that 7 states have rates of over 70%, including two large states, NY and PA. It makes no sense but apparently a large number of students do take the SAT without any intention to go to college. So my IL and CO drag down ACT scores theory may not hold water because the same is true with the SAT and some states.</p>
<p>an additional interesting tidbit is that on common data sets identifying the subscores in the ACT the 25-75 ratio of enrolled students is at odds with what the corresponding SAT number--it's lower than what you would expect.</p>
<p>again, i think more and more schools other than a few are simply choosing kids that fit their community building and ignoring the standardized when it doesn't fit their needs.</p>
<p>GShine, how are you concluding that the SAT participation numbers are higher than the number of students who intend to go to college? According to this</a> table, 66.7% of 2004 high school graduates nationwide enrolled in college. You would expect that some number more than that were considering or planning to go to college, and then there would be significant variation between state, so it seems certain that in some states, more than 70% of graduates intend to go to college. Do you have some other data that you're basing this on?</p>
<p>Mrs. Ferguson:</p>
<p>Nope, I made a wrong assumption. A little less than 30% of the adult population have a bachelor's degree (or higher) and it would probably be slightly higher for the younger generation. I assumed the number of those enrolling in or intending to go to college didn't exceed this number by much. I certainly didn't expect the number of those who enroll in college to be twice that of those who earn a degree!</p>