Each year the College Board releases information about college-bound students for that year’s high school graduating class. This information includes academic, demographic, and socioeconomic data as well as the numbers of students taking the SAT and their mean scores.
This year’s report the SAT Report on College and Career Readiness: 2012, looks at the nationally-set benchmark that demonstrates students’ preparedness for both college and career success. The Readiness Benchmark is a score of 1550 on the SAT. Indeed, 43% of SAT takers met this national Benchmark in 2012. It was found that the main factor in this measurement of success correlated with taking the core curriculum in high school. In fact, those who completed their core curricula scored 144 points higher on the SAT than those who did not.
The report also includes outlines of the SAT’s fairness and validity, the importance of the SAT to college admission, and the alignment of the SAT with Common Core State standards. Both free and low-cost resources for those planning to take the SAT are also included in the report.
This report is important to read. It gives college applicants, their parents, and high school guidance people an idea of the students and their background with whom their student will compete when taking the SAT and how high school course work can affect SAT scores.
