Florida lawmakers chose to significantly raise qualifying test marks — from a minimum of 970 three years ago to 1170 now on the SAT. The average Florida combined SAT score was about 982 last year.
Her students come out with higher test scores and better grasp on prepping and taking tests, but SAT scores are a very weak predictor of undergraduate performance in students who had private quality tutors to prep for the tests to get them into schools one notch above where they would have been accepted otherwise... So where is the merit on display?
Students taking multiple tests tend to test higher on subsequent tests no matter the coaching. It’s actually been shown that supposedly disadvantaged students receive coaching more often than those with wealthier parents.
And, of course, any student can go to the local library and study up on his or her own.
But even overlooking all of that, the FL standard is low enough, even with revision, to be giving scholarships to students who more appropriately should be taking remedial community college classes. And, if the SAT is imperfect, it is still by far the most even measure we have.