While Warsaw’s student SAT and ACT scores were still mostly above the state average last school year, they did dip a little.
Chief Accountability Officer Amy Sivley gave the SAT and ACT assessment to the school board Monday night.
“Both tests are designed to assess a student’s academic readiness for college,” she told the board. “The SAT actually has a reading, writing and math skills assessment test. They’re really looking at skills that are learned in high school that are critical for success in college and beyond.”
“The ACT tests English, math, reading and science. It also can include ACT Plus Writing, which would be their writing portion. The ACT test reflects what a student has learned throughout high school,” she added.
While the SAT is the most widely used college admission test, Sivley said the ACT is closing ground, with more students taking that test than the SAT in 2012.
Starting with SAT, Sivley said at Warsaw Community High School the overall participation has increased over the last four years. In 2009, 257 students took the SAT, increasing to 279 in 2010; 294 in 2011; and 316 in 2012.
By ethnicity, participation in 2011 and 2012 was pretty similar, she said. Taking the test in 2012 were a reported 250 white students; two American Indian or Alaska Native; seven Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander; 12 black or African American; 38 Hispanic; one not reported; and six “other.”
Critical reading scores on SAT dropped a few points, Sivley said. Warsaw students in 2012 were close to the state average and a few points below the U.S. average.
For writing, WCHS was right above the state average but below the national average. For math, Warsaw dropped again but was well above the state average and “just a point or two below the national average,” she said.
“When we look at our composite score, which is all the reading, writing and math added together, we saw just a 30-point drop. We’re above the Indiana average, and a little bit below the national average,” she said.
Looking at the data, she said Warsaw students outscored Indiana students on math and writing. Reading was just a one-point difference. Warsaw students also had a higher overall composite score compared to other Indiana schools, she said.
For ACT, 85 Warsaw students took the assessment in 2012, compared to 59 in 2011, 61 in 2010 and 50 in 2009.
Test scores tell a similar story – a slight drop, but still above the state average.
In English, Warsaw’s average score dropped from 24.9 in 2011 to 22.8 in 2012. Math dropped from 25.7 in 2011 to 24.4 in 2012. Reading dropped from 25.5 in 2011 to 23.7 in 2012, while science dropped from 23.3 in 2011 to 22.5 in 2012.
The composite score – when you take all four subtests and add them together – dropped from 24.9 in 2011 to 23.5 in 2012. The state average in 2011 and 2012 was 22.3.
“The ACT data – they set benchmarks, and if a student scores a certain benchmark on each of these tests, they can predict whether or not a student is ready for college-level courses,” Sivley said.
On the English ACT portion the benchmark score is 18, which 79 percent of Warsaw students met or exceeded.
“So that tells us that of the students taking ACT, 79 percent are ready to do college English,” she continued. “For the math portion, 75 percent hit the benchmark of 22. So 75 percent of our students who took the ACT are ready for college algebra. And then the reading subtest, if they score 21 or higher, that predicts they are ready for college social science classes. And we have 73 percent of our students that hit that benchmark.”
Each year, Sivley said Warsaw is seeing more of its students take the assessments. The majority of the students taking the tests are juniors or seniors, but there have been some sophomores take them.
Deb Wiggins, board member, asked if the corporation had goals for the number of students taking the tests and what it wants those students to score on the tests at grade level.
“I don’t think we’ve ever set anything like that,” Sivley responded. However, it could happen in the future.
In another matter, the board had been requested by Director of Maintenance Greg Schroeder at its Oct. 17 public work session to consider a five-year agreement with Veolia Environmental Services for waste removal and recycling services.
Instead Monday, the board approved a motion for the administration to secure three quotes for those services to be presented at the board’s Nov. 20 public work session.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz also reported student enrollment is at 7,025 students, an increase of 75 students from October 2011.
The elementary school total is 3,803 students, and the district average class size is 22.4 students.
The secondary total is 3,222, including 2,148 at Warsaw Community High School and Warsaw Area Career Center; 519 at Lakeview Middle School; and 555 at Edgewood Middle School.
Warsaw currently has 155 out-of-district transfer students, and 47 students who are enrolled in partial WACC classes from out of the district. Transfer students include 51 from Tippecanoe Valley, 32 from Wawasee and 53 from Whitko.
