Starting this spring, Delaware will give the SAT to all high-school juniors attending public schools, the state’s department of education announced on Tuesday.
Delaware, which will receive about $1.8 million in federal money for the program, gave the College Board a four-year contract to administer the college-entrance exam annually to 11th graders. The program will cost the state about $47 per student.
Delaware officials hope that move will increase the number of students who apply to college, and better prepare high-school graduates for post-secondary education and careers. Last year, 36 percent of the state’s juniors took the SAT.
Maine is the only other state that provides the SAT to its high-school students. In 2006, the state replaced its high-school assessment test with the SAT. Juniors are now required to take the exam.
The ACT Inc., which administers the ACT, has partnerships with nine states that provide its exam to high-school students.
6 Responses to Delaware Will Give SAT to All Juniors
drj50 - January 25, 2011 at 3:44 pm
This is an interesting idea and one that may indeed be helpful. I hope, however, that they are prepared for the headlines announcing that mean SAT scores in the state have declined. The accompanying news stories will generally fail to note that more students, including many who less academically inclined, will have taken the test.
chthsc - January 25, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Now, I may be out of the loop on this, but what a waste of money! Why give a “college-entrance exam” to students who are not planning on/do not belong in higher ed?! Especially in a state where only 36 percent of juniors took it last year? Shouldn’t that tell the good people of Delaware something? Perhaps I’m looking a gift-horse in the mouth…but, really. Too many unprepared people are going to college as it is. There are other ways to encourage those who deserve/need/should go to college.
Also– “In 2006, the state replaced its high-school assessment test with the SAT. Juniors are now required to take the exam.”————– What? H.S. teachers/administrators can’t write tests anymore? Gee, I wish I had a soulless company that I could pay with government funds to write my tests…
gent258 - January 26, 2011 at 8:38 am
The SAT should be given to students who plan to go to college. The money would be better spent giving other students vocational counseling.
jffoster - January 26, 2011 at 4:36 pm
This is just Phase I of the plan. Phase II will raise the schoolleaving age in Maine and Delaware to 21 and require everybody to go to college. Keep em out of the labor force a while longer. O, excuse me, the “career” force. Mere “jobs” are so terribly lower class.
kenragain - January 26, 2011 at 11:16 pm
It’s a interesting idea.and I hope, however, that they are prepared for the headlines announcing that mean SAT scores in the state have declined.
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mariemrafa - January 28, 2011 at 9:14 am
chthsc – High school teachers don’t write the assessment tests anyway. They administer them, and sometimes are forced to teach to the test in order to get high enough scores for state and federal funding, but they are not writing these tests.
As for the actual article’s intent, I think it isn’t a completely bad idea on face value, but there are some flaws as some of you have pointed out already. I find that in the poorer states, such as the state where I live and work, it would be a great benefit if the test was paid for each junior at least for the first time. It would help the counselors advise the student into an appropriate track after high school instead of waiting until September of the senior year to realize the student is better suited at a vocational/technical school over a four-year. I don’t find the SATs or ACTs to be a bad assessment of a student, maybe not the most accurate, but who here knows what a score on the WESTEST means? I don’t even know how it’s scored or how many sections there are. And if the students have to take the SATs, that’s one less test prep week and testing week the students and teachers have to endure. The schools now waste too much instruction time to administer these other non-college-enterance tests which do not say anything about a student’s ability on a national scale like the SATs or ACTs.
Yes the average will drop with every student taking them, but their hearts are in the right place. For some students who couldn’t afford the test but are college material, this has given them an opportunity not to let finances get in the way of education.