Are Lynn Students Prepared for the SAT?

Previous posts looked at Lynn's test scores in terms the MCAS and AP exams. Here we look at how Lynn high school students taking the SAT fare on the oft used college entrance exam. 

Below are the average 2009-10 SAT scores for Lynn along with eight other similar districts (in terms of demographics).

	Reading	Writing	Math
Boston	439	435	466
Brockton	440	432	446
Holyoke	429	434	450
Lawrence	402	397	409
Lowell	457	447	482
Lynn	439	423	453
New Bedford	449	436	457
Springfield	415	398	413
Worcester	436	428	446

Out of a possible 800 on each section of the exam, Lynn students tend to score in the mid-400 range. This is consistent with scores achieved by students in similar districts. It should be noted that approximately 412 students took the SAT during the 2009-10 school year with 45% of the test taking population being male and 55% female. Further demographic analysis reveals that the majority of students taking the SAT that year were either Caucasian (38.3%) or Hispanic (32%). 

In terms of SAT participation, of the 412 students taking the exam 166 were from Lynn Classical, 210 from Lynn English and 36 from Lynn Tech. Scores at individual scores varied such that the average scores at each high school were as follows:

Lynn Classical 

Reading: 453
Writing:  432
Math: 470

Lynn English

Reading: 437
Writing: 428
Math: 449

Lynn Tech

Reading: 385
Writing: 356
Math: 392



See below for a comparison with other communities on the North Shore.

	Reading	Writing	Math
Beverly	526	512	522
Danvers	509	517	526
Lynn	439	423	453
Marblehead	558	551	571
Peabody	494	492	511
Revere	459	450	480
Salem	467	458	481
Saugus	493	483	496
Swampscott	520	511	522

From this we see that while Lynn's SAT scores are consistent with similar communities, they are much lower than surrounding communities particularly Marblehead. A major contributing factor to this difference is likely a difference in resources - students in towns like Marblehead and Swampscott not only attend schools that are better funded than the Lynn schools, but are also more likely to be able to afford SAT tutors and/or test prep guides. Additionally, students in wealthier communities often have the opportunity to take the exam more than once which results in higher test scores the second or third time around. 

Again, while test scores are the most important indicator of academic success, exams like the SAT can serve as the gateway to college acceptances. It is important to know these numbers so we can better understand the ways in which Lynn can better prepare and aid its high school students in getting that coveted college acceptance letter to the school(s) of their choice.

*All Data Taken From: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/sat/sat_perf_dist.aspx?orgcode=01630000&orgtypecode=5&