A consistent finding in our Parent Satisfaction and Referral Surveys is the relative unimportance of standardized test score results. A recent New York Times article noted the case of South Carolina, where all 11th graders are required to take the ACT:
The first results, from the ACT college admissions tests, showed that only about a quarter of students statewide were ready for either college-level math or reading. Just 6 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students scored ready for college in math, with only slightly higher rates for reading. In one poor rural district where most of the students are African-American, graduation rates have risen to more than 85 percent, yet not one student scored high enough on the ACT to be deemed ready for college in reading or math
Parents totally understand the need for college, and we need to make the case for the fact that standardized tests do measure college-readiness, academically-speaking. We need to say it, write it, and then – repeat the process.
What’s not in question is that our Christian schools do great on standardized tests. What is in question is whether parents will care.
They should.
(c) 2016 Dan Krause GraceWorks Ministries All Rights Reserved\
