<p>I want to hear from you, parents, regarding this issue. Maybe Mr. George Bush was not so uninformed when he pushed for No Child Left Behind. This is not a discussion on NCLB, but it was a result of low test scores nation wide. May be I am just stuck in a bubble of education right now, I consider any ACT score under 30 and SAT score under 2000 as "bad". Now it may shock you that the national averages are significantly lower than I have even heard of anyone getting.</p>
Look at that math score. 180,723 kids got a score of 16 on the Math section.
National SAT Averages (2010)
Critical Reading: 501
Math: 516
Writing: 492
</p>
<p>I find those figures appalling. Now, how can those averages be so low? Is it the nature of the tests themselves? Is it the fabric of how the educational system run? Are they mostly due to socioeconomic situations? How can we fix this problem? </p>
<p>As others have mentioned, the averages are set at about 20 and 1500. If students started answering more questions correctly, it would simply mean that one can miss less questions before falling below 1500. A much better indicator of how (in your opinion) terribly students are doing would be the average number of questions missed.</p>
<p>A lot of kids that take standardized tests only take them because they are forced to, or they don’t take them seriously. There’s a pretty big group of people that don’t go straight to 4 years or college at all for that matter. Not to be harsh or anything, but America is becoming a dumber country. Out educational ranking has fallen dramatically over the last decade.</p>
<p>^^ I agree. And that’s partly because of the faulty assumption behind NCLB: The only way to measure the quality of education is standardized testing.</p>
<p>You can find these figures appalling all you want, but what’s really appalling is not the test scores but your “expectations” an your arrogance. Let me be frank, no one really cares if you think anything less than 30 and 2000 is “bad”. </p>
<p>
Nope, buddy, it doesn’t. No one really cares whether the kids you hang out with are far “smarter” than the average. </p>
<p>
There are many people in inner-city schools that just don’t have access to good education. Stop sitting on your high horse and expect everyone to overcome such obstacles. God knows maybe you and I wouldn’t have if we had faced such incredible odds. </p>
<p>What we really need is better education–not better test scores.</p>
<p>Not only are the tests centered but let’s not forget that some states administer these tests to every high school junior, not just college bound juniors which will pull down the averages slightly. The OP is “comparing” his score to anecdotal reports of college bound kids not “all kids.” Not ALL kids go to college and of all kids that go to college not all kids finish college.</p>
<p>I’m over 50 but for the past few years I have been answering the SAT Queston of the Day for fun. I recommend people check it out. To tell you the truth, it is a little sad - the low percentages of students able to answer what seem like trivial questions.</p>
<p>Now I realize this is not scientific. And I’m an adult with a couple college degrees, so maybe that makes a difference. Plus, a lot of the top testers are likely not using the site, since many of them don’t need to review. But I assume any kid reviewing for the test is not likely to be one of the poorer testers. </p>
<p>Still, the results are a little surprising (and depressing) to me. Maybe the kids are just doing it under duress and not really thinking about their answers.</p>
<p>I think what the OP really illustrates how CC does NOT reflect the vast majority of kids in this country. Only here is a 30 ACT or a 2000 SAT considered “bad.”</p>
<p>Many states require students to take the ACT to graduate from high school, regardless of their further education aspirations. As such, if you look at a class where the mandatory test is being given for free you’ll see a significant number of kids just sleeping (it’s 8am afterall), not answering any questions or just answering ‘C’ for everything. </p>
<p>Although, I don’t know how to explain your unrealistic expectations. Perhaps what you meant was “bad” for yourself. Or maybe you’re just ignorant.</p>
<p>Actually, if we assume that the average student who subscribes to the SAT Question of the Day is capable of answering any question that was answered correctly by at least 50% of the respondents, it may turn out that the average student who subscribes to the SAT Question of the Day is actually likely to do better than average on the SAT. (Because it seems to me that the majority tends to get most questions right.)</p>
<p>Which would mean that the subscribers do in fact test better than average on the whole.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about this, by the way. I think someone should track the percentages over time and, once enough data has been accumulated, convert them to a raw test score. I’d love to see it.</p>
<p>@bovertine: I think the stats may count every answer, not user. Someone who has no idea what the answer is but keeps working at it could easily add four wrong answers and one correct answer to the stats.</p>
<p>Does it not even occur to you that the international average for math is 587 and writing is 510, only the critical reading is below Americans’ average. Also, do not assume I am from an affluent family. My family immigrated here and make less than $40,000. The averages for families of incomes $20,000 - $40,000 are significantly less than more than $200,000; about 130 points less for the former. Arrogant? Sure, call me that, but you have to realize that there are fundamental problems in the American education system.</p>
<p>However, just by the odds it seems unlkely they’d go through every single answer guessing before hitting the correct one. So that isn’t exactly great news. There are often over 100,000 responses to these questions. So the fact that there may be tens of thousands of students with absolutely no idea how to solve even some very simple problems is not really something to cheer about.</p>
<p>I don’t blame the kids, I just think maybe they are not
getting the proper training to solve these types of questions. In some cases, for math at least, they may be trying to solve it in some sophisticated way when brute force would be better.</p>
<p>Our local school’s average falls below the national average, but everyone around tells us how great the schools are. They look the part on the outside. We opted to homeschool once ours reached high school/middle school. I have no regrets. I’ll need to explain why on some college apps, but I don’t think that will be difficult.</p>
<p>I, personally, don’t consider a 30/2000 bad, but I know my kids are capable of higher (two of the three have proven it, we’ll let the youngest finish Algebra first). Our school considers a 1500 really good and doesn’t offer the ACT. Anyone scoring a 600 on a single section is super good (and I don’t mean in the 600s).</p>
<p>Our school is rather average in the US. Kids and parents on here are considerably above average academically, but I enjoy the place and seeing where people are going + what they are doing. It also reminds me that there are decent public schools out there.</p>
<p>Yes, internationals have slightly higher averages. And since the SAT is an American test for entrance into American universities, the pool of internationals far smaller and self-selecting.</p>
<p>Yes, the socioeconomic differences are ridiculous, and throwing your money around on prep books and classes can increase your score significantly. Unfortunately, the same can be said for most other aspects of college admissions. Poor kids have to work harder and more creatively for the same results as their wealthier peers.</p>
<p>I consider any ACT score under 30 and SAT score under 2000 as “bad”.</p>
<p>That’s ridiculous!!</p>
<p>An ACT 29 is 94th percentile…hardly “bad”.</p>
<p>*
The average American takes the SAT*</p>
<p>I’m not sure that’s true. While many Americans take the SAT (or ACT), many kids don’t. those who won’t be going to college don’t…and many who will be starting at a CC don’t. Many don’t take either test. </p>
<p>I’m not sure that the “average” American takes the SAT (or ACT).</p>
<p>You can’t just look at numbers to determine…since the numbers include kids who’ve tested multiple times…and kids who are testing as frosh, sophs, jr, sr, and beyond.</p>