SAT, ACT: Most high school children lack skills for college.

Findings released Monday by the non-profit College Board show which 57% of 2012 graduating senior citizens who took the SAT, which usually it owns, earned a combined score below what it says is important to show that students may earn a B-minus or better from the first year at a four-year college.

A report released last month by the Iowa City-based ACT found that no less than 60% of 2012 high school graduates who took its test are similarly in danger of not succeeding in college.


The actual tests measure different skills, but colleges that require standardized admissions tests generally take scores from either test. Amongst details:


Bob Schaeffer, spokesman intended for FairTest, the National Center intended for Fair & Open Testing, said Monday that the drop in SAT scores show that high-stakes testing programs including the federal No Child Left Driving law "have been a huge failure. "

The SAT and ACT reviews attribute the relatively flat scores partly with an increasingly diverse pool of students taking their tests. The Higher education Board, for example, reports a 61% increase since 2008 in the number of low-income test takers, based upon requests for fee waivers.

College Board Vice President John Montoya said Monday that common scores can increase if more students gain access to a rigorous college-prep curriculum. "This report is a proactive approach, " Montoya said.

The increased participation also reflects an expanding emphasis among states on arranging students for college. Nine states require high school students to take the ACT. Two states require the SAT; a third will require it starting following year.

Moreover, by the 2014-15 educational year, 46 states will have placed into place some or all of a few common core state standards produced by the Council of Chief State School Officers as well as the National Governors Association Center for Best practices.

"The expectation will no longer be in order to graduate students but to genuinely be preparing students for college, " says Chris Minnich, senior membership director with the council. "We don't think every student will probably be going to college, but we do think students should have the opportunity, have the option. "

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