O-SenseIdaho Business for Education (IBE) has released its 2015 Idaho College and Career Readiness Report, a compilation of the state’s SAT scores, broken down by individual high school and district.
The report shows that roughly 20 percent of the high school juniors who took the SAT in 2015 can be considered college and career ready based on a benchmark recommended by the Governor’s Task Force on Improving Education and adopted by the State Board of Education. See more information here.
“We want to make one thing very clear: These SAT results are not a criticism of our teachers or schools,” said IBE Chair Bob Lokken. “We have hard-working educators all across our state. These scores instead simply reflect the priorities our communities have historically placed on education. Historically, people have focused on high school graduation rates. But in today’s economy, we need to shift our focus to preparing students for post-secondary education/training. To not make this a priority at this time casts a very dim light on the future, not only for our students, but for our state’s businesses and economy. IBE’s goal with this report is simply to help our communities set their priorities into the future. If communities are happy with these results, that is their decision. However, if they want a different future for their students, they can use this data to reset their community’s priorities. Creating change in something as complex as education can only happen if student achievement is made the singular priority and focus.”
Lokken added, “There are several bright spots across the state, such as the dual-credit programs, the AVID program, and the Project Lead the Way efforts. These efforts’ results prove one thing, that if we rally our communities’ focus and efforts, progress is achievable. What is clearly needed now is a system-wide, singular focus on wide scale change.”
Some parties might question the Governor’s Task Force recommended and the State Board of Education endorsed method of the measurement used in this report. The measurement method used was a student scoring a minimum of 500 on all three subject areas of the SAT (reading, writing, and math), and statewide roughly 20% of students currently perform at that level. Other measurement methods have been sometimes used, such as composite scores of 1550 or higher. Some think that 480 in each subject area is a more fair measurement for those headed to 1 or 2 year post-secondary programs.
While the concerns behind these criticisms might be well intended, they miss the point. Changing the benchmark to the 1550 composite, or 480 per subject area, only raises the success rates to 25% and 24%, respectively. The economy is creating jobs that require between 60%-68% post-secondary completion. No matter what method you use to generate the metric, the gap remains roughly the same. The discussion needs to be about our communities’ priorities, not about metric alternatives that do not change the future for our students. To emphasize this point, IBE calculated the metric lowering that standard to a subject area score 470, a level no one has seriously proposed to our knowledge. That lower standard only raises the pass rate to 27%. The gap remains materially the same.
“Scoring below these benchmarks does not destine a student for failure. It increases the probability that a student will need remediation at the post-secondary level. Students that need remediation not only have to pay fees to complete work they should have done in high school, but it increases the likelihood of the student dropping out of post-secondary school/training,” continued Lokken. “This should be of acute interest in Idaho, as Idaho has had low go-on rates, very high remediation rates, and one of highest post-secondary dropout rates in the US.”
“We also have to remember that education is a continuum that starts in kindergarten and continues through postsecondary,” Lokken said. “As a state, we must strengthen this education continuum to build a sound academic foundation for our students. Then by the time they take the SAT as juniors they will have a better chance of being successful in postsecondary and their careers.”
IBE is a group of nearly 150 business leaders from across the state who are committed to strengthening Idaho’s education system to better set our students up for success in school, work and life and to build the workforce Idaho needs for the 21st Century. IBE supports the State Board’s goal that 60 percent of our 25-34 year-olds hold a post-secondary credential by 2020.
