On the 8th of October, Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors had the morning off classes to take important standardized tests called PSATs and PSAT/NMSQTs. PSATs are a preliminary or sometimes called a “practice” test for the SATs which are taken Junior and Senior year of high school. They are taken to allow students to see where they are academically. Three weeks after taking the tests, the scores were released for students to see how they did on the test, what to do with their score, and ways to improve it for next time. Scores can be seen by logging into College Board with the password that was created freshman year the week before the test or by speaking to a teacher about what their scores were.
When looking at the test scores, there is a report that shows the overall score of the test, the scores of the English and Math segments, and individual scores on all subjects being tested on. Underneath the overall score, it shows segment scores and what percentile a given score falls in.
Freshmen take the PSATs, which are different than the PSAT/NMSQTs that the Sophomores and Juniors take. The difference is the PSAT/NMSQTs are a specific part of the PSATs where scores are applications for National Merit Scholarships.
Jessica Willis, an assistant principal at BHSN, presented data from College Board, where most schools in the nation take the test from. College Board testing data is very specific, and the most accurate representation of who took each test and how they did. The average scores can be anywhere from national average to demographic averages, such as gender and ethnicity. The only average that necessarily matters is the grade average, but demographic data from PSAT scores is still used for statistics in other areas or maybe just a fun little detail to look at.
Accoring to college board, the average PSAT score for freshmen at North is an 883. Compared to the state avgerage, an 837, and the country average, an 828, BHSN scored above on both. Compared to the rest of the Monroe Coounty Community School Corperation, an 897, BHSN scores are lower.
The average PSAT/NMSQT score for Sophomores and Juniors at North is a 958. Compared to the state average, an 898, and the country average, a 954, North scores above on both as well. Compared to the rest of the MCCSC school district, a 978, BHSN scores are lower.
College Board is the organization that holds the PSATs. After taking the test, students can look at score segments on College Board with more information about a score and what can be done to improve it. It also shows what kinds of questions were asked and how well someone did on each type of question. For example, if someone gets a perfect score on all questions related to Geometry and Trigonometry but doesn’t do too well on Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, there is more information on what can be done to improve on that subject before the next test.
College Board is also connected to a learning site called Khan Academy. Students can get into Khan Academy using their College Board login, and instructional videos and quizzes will show up in a recommended area for a student to do to get better at those subjects.
The PSATs are an important test to take to see where students are before the SATs. SAT scores are extremely important when it comes to college applications, so SAT prep is required to be able to get high enough scores. Though PSAT scores aren’t as important as SAT scores, it is still important for students to try on the tests and see where they are academically.
