Lol that was parents from our district that went nuts about the SAT scores on transcripts…but in fairness the administration agreed.
By the way, the PSAT-NMSQT is optional, unlike the required SAT. Only about 1/2 the juniors at our school took the PSAT this year.
@scific if it makes you feel any better, in our state the kids actually have to take the ACT with the essay.
Thank goodness my son school was a Act school then after he graduated went to Sat. He is an Act kid. Would of bombed the Sat. Too bad kids can’t take the test that is actually better for them.
Here in Colorado, SAT is taken in schools but DS has easily opted out.
I’m glad that we didn’t opt to have D19 take the SAT earlier, and just took the one provided by the school…
Many states use the ACT or SAT as the No Child Left behind test. It is given to 11th graders. States need it to get federal funding.
Some parents un-enroll students for one day and then re-enroll them next day so they don’t have to take the test (not just high schoolers but any grade that requires the NCLB tests). Talk about disrupting your child’s education to prove a point!
If she is sick the day of the test what can you do?
Our HS (WA state) allows kids to opt out of state mandated testing and use an SAT or ACT as a substitute, among other options. I’m happy about that since the state tests are a waste of time, but it seems silly to me to make it be THE SAT at the HS rather than just any SAT taken during HS.
In fact one of my kids took the SAT twice. The first was on the free day at his HS, the second off-site. He hated the day at the HS, he said it was too distracting and he much preferred (and indeed tested better) at the other location. So we decided that next year with my youngest kid, were going to opt out of the freebie day and have her take it the following weekend.
First kid also got his scores later than kids who took it the weekend later (not free) because who knows!? Not was agonizing for him to wait.
Totally agree. I’m in CT , and as a teacher, I’m thrilled that my hs kids aren’t taking extra standardized tests when they’re taking the SAT already. In our district, they take it March of jr year. We just looked at it as ds20’s first sitting, knowing he had time to retake if needed. With ds22, I’d actually like him to try it 1x before the school sitting. Never occurred to me to try to exempt him from the school sitting if he does well, but now I’m curious about the policy and will ask.
@amsunshine At least in Illinois, if you are absent on the day of the test, they have other test option days and everyone finds a day.
I got the impression that it’s a logistical reason as to why the school can’t take a student’s SAT score from another sitting. The state is using these scores for data and having them all (or almost all) of them on the same test day allows them to grab the information easily for analysis. If they had kids somehow entering other SAT scores from other dates, that would be a mess. Plus, GC’s would have to run down every junior and get them to enter score. Just not realistic.
I think every state has some sort of state testing, no? It just happens that Illinois uses the SAT for that purpose. Illinois signed a contract with College Board and paid them a lot of money. One can try to look at it as the “state testing”. it just happens to be an SAT. I think that’s what’s confusing to parents sometimes. The only catch is that, if you apply to a school that wants all sittings, I believe you would have to report it.
As noted above numerous states have adopted having a State test date for the ACT or SAT (which one varies by state). What is going on is each state’s attempt to comply with federal educational funding laws , previously called no child left behind laws and now called Every Student Succeeds laws. The tests are being used as one of the methods to demonstrate compliance with such laws by showing the high school is meeting at least the minimum requirements of the federal laws demonstrating that the high school is doing a decent job of teaching students what they need to learn, and having most or all students take the test is deemed necessary to do so. The issue is thus not whether the state makes it, or does not make it, a requirement for graduation but simply the actual rules any particular state has adopted to assure valid use of the tests to show compliance with federal funding laws
The specific rules applicable to taking the test vary among the states, but a number require the taking of the test on the applicable state testing date, and even have make-up dates if the student has an excuse for missing the state testing date. Moreover, in a number of state’s the particular test cannot be replaced by a different test from a national testing date. I do not know the particular rules adopted by Maryland but be aware that attempting to seek an exception from your high school may go nowhere, including because the sate may prohibit exceptions or require that they can only be approved by higher authorities.
Yep, my S20 is at a HS where it is mandatory because it is a graduation requirement. Our school now does the SAT and it used to do the ACT. When he got a 1600 on the Nov 2018 SAT, I asked the school if he was required to take it in April 2019 with the rest of his junior class (in school). I was told he had to, due to the graduation requirement. If he was “sick” that day, they would have made him take it on the April school testing date when he was a senior. So he did end up taking it junior year with the rest of his class. It was kind of ridiculous.
ETA: Luckily it’s not included on transcripts anymore. However, one of the schools he applied to did require ALL scores from any administration of any test he took.
I’m curious why you believe a local school board or a state Board of Education aren’t empowered to set graduation requirements. On what precedent will a parent that is a lawyer rely?
@homerdog The OP is in Maryland, though. Has it been made clear why the school is signing the kids up for the SAT? Or why the 1570 score from December is not sufficient? In California, with the typical state testing, students are allowed to opt-out (although they are strongly encouraged not to). However, I agree if this is a similar situation to Illinois, there doesn’t seem to be a way to get out of it.
It looks like either the county or state is funding this. That’s the only explanation I am aware of.
For those missing taking the test on the scheduled date, there will be a makeup date.
Hopefully, she can opt-out like in CA. Anyway SAT testing doesn’t seem to be mandated in MD.