Mike Falick's Blog

Feeling Smart: Here's the Website for the Official SAT Question of the Day

The College Board's website now features a SAT practice question every day.  In addition, the website provides extensive resources to prepare for the SAT.

Spring Branch ISD Gets Good News on the ACT: For the Fifth Year in a Row, Spring Branch Increases Participation and Substantially Outperforms the State

Spring Branch received good news recently about our results on the ACT.  Below are the highlights, which can be viewed by clicking on the images below, or by clicking here.

• From 2004 to 2009, participation in the ACT more than doubled, a 100% increase, from 431 to 863 students, compared with a 15% increase in participation across the state. In spite of the dramatic increase in participation over the six years, performance has remained relatively unchanged.
• Participation in 2009 increased by nearly 100 students over the previous year, an increase of more than 12% compared with a state increase of 4.5%.
• Performance dropped slightly in all tests and composite scores (.2 to .5 points) in 2009 compared with 2008.
• Performance at the college ready levels continues to exceed state rates by 14 to 19 percentage points, with college algebra leading for the second straight year, 19 points over the state average.
• In 2009, over three-quarters (77%) of the students taking College English Composition performed at or above the college ready level of 18, 14 percentage points above the state average.
• In 2009, average math scores exceeded the state in all subject combinations except those students taking less than 3 years of math. Students taking Alg 1 and 2, Geometry, and Trig (Pre-Calculus) outperformed the state average the greatest (+3.8%), closely followed by students who also took Calculus (+3.4%).
• Compared with 2008, performance of students taking Alg 1 and 2, Geometry, and Trig (Pre-Calculus) increased significantly (+4.0), while the state average actually declined (-0.5).
• Compared with 2008, performance of students taking less than 3 years of math dropped significantly from 25.1 in 2008 to 16.3 in 2009.
• In 2009 and 2008, average science scores exceeded the state averages in all course combinations.

As I stated in my post last year about our 2008 ACT results, while the results show there is still room for improvement, it appears clear that the District's college focus and goal that all students will graduate and then obtain a 2 year certificate, 2 year Associates Degree, or 4 year Baccalaureate Degree is showing very positive results.

Where in Texas do Spring Branch Graduates Go to College

For those of you who have followed this blog for the past few years, you know that I am a strong believer in college access for all students.  (For more information and my prior posts on this topic, please click here).

I was therefore intrigued today when I received the following email from a regular reader of this blog:

Mike,

I thought you might be interested in this.  I included Spring Branch ISD campuses on the region 4 tab.  Since SBISD has stated an intent to be the premier college-focused district in the Texas, it seemed particularly relevant.

The THECB published their 2008 high school to college linkages report in April 2009.
I converted their data into a format that lists enrollment totals in 4-year colleges and 2-year colleges separately so that I could compute the percentage of graduates enrolled in 4 and 2-year institutions for  a number of  high schools of interest.

I wish the THECB would report on at least the out-of-state data for adjacent states, or any that offer tuition incentives to Texas students. That would improve the usefulness of their data. I also wish that the data showed a breakout of where the top ten percent enrolled after high school.  Some schools undoubtedly have a sizable number of their top students enrolling out of state. 

The Excel file she provided is here.  Click on the tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet for CCISD and Region 4 to see where SBISD graduates go to college.  I have also captured the information for each of our high schools below.  Click on each image to enlarge it.

The information is only for Texas colleges, so it is incomplete, but I found it to be very interesting and informative.

 

Lecturefox: Yet Another Online Source of Free University Lectures

I have previously posted a number of websites that offer high quality, free university lectures (here, here, here, and here).  Now comes another site, Lecturefox, which brings you many Ivy League University lectures on sciences, psychology, economics, history, and philosophy.  Many of the Lecturefox lectures include not only audio, which is common on other sites, but also video.

From the Lecturefox website:

What is Lecturefox?

It’s all about the joy of learning.

Lecturefox is a free service. You can find high-quality classes from universities all over the world. We collect without exception lectures from official universities, and we have a special interest in lectures from the faculties physics, chemistry, computer science and mathematics. In the category “faculty mix” you can find miscellaneous lectures from other departments like electrical engineering, biology, psychology, economics, history and philosophy.

College.gov: A Very Good Resource for Information About Going to College

Regular readers of this blog know that 3 years ago, Spring Branch embedded being "the premiere college focused district in Texas" into our 5 Year Educational Plan.  There are tremendous resources available on the internet to support that goal, including the recently created College.gov website from the U.S. Department of Education. 

The website includes links to explain Why to Go to College, What to Do to Prepare to Go to College, and How to Pay for College, along with links for parents and families and teachers and counselors.

From the College.gov website:

college.gov is being built by the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with students. This site is intended to be the go-to source for information and resources about planning, preparing and paying for postsecondary education (such as 2- or 4-year colleges and universities, and vocational or career schools).

Most importantly, college.gov is intended to provide inspiration and hope to all students, and encourage them to consider and pursue a postsecondary education.

In building this site, we asked students what information was most useful as they look ahead toward college.

The Very Comprehensive CampusExplorer.com Helps Match Students to College

One of the Board's Goals in Spring Branch's Five Year Educational Plan is that Spring Branch will be "the premier college-focused district in the State of Texas and will prepare all students for success after high school graduation."

A new website - CampusExplorer.com - has a simple purpose.  It describes itself as "a fun college matching tool that works."  From the CampusExplorer website:

The philosophy at Campus Explorer is pretty simple: We believe everyone deserves a fulfilling education, no matter the name or place. We think that given the proper tools, anyone shopping for college or continuing education can find the perfect fit.

CampusExplorer.com is the place to begin that great adventure. We have compiled everything you need for a college search, right here in one site.

Whether it's a two- or four-year school, a career college or an online program, we have figured out everything from tuition to average temperature. We also have a personalized search function that allows you to set your wish list and explore from there. We even have direct partnerships with schools to put you in touch with admissions officers.

Our database today contains information on more than 6,000 schools, and counting. It's accurate. It's easy to use. It's the most comprehensive directory devoted to higher education you'll find anywhere on the web. And it's free!

Watch this video for more information:

Spring Branch to Host College Nights on October 14th and 15th

As part of the District's support for the Board's goal of becoming the premiere college focused district in Texas, Spring Branch will host its annual College Nights on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 30-31, from 6:30p - 8:30p.  The information below is from the District's website.  The District also has posted a tremendous amount of useful information about college and post-secondary opportunities on the SBISD Post-Secondary Planning website.

College Nights programs will be held on Oct. 14-15 at Spring Woods High

The school district’s annual College Nights 2008, a two-evening informational program designed especially for high school students and their families, will be presented on Oct. 14-15, at Spring Woods High School, 2045 Gessner.

Expected to attend this popular community event are more than 200 representatives from regional, state, and national colleges and universities, including both public and private institutions, as well as technical post-secondary and military-related institutions.

In recent years, up to 3,000 people have visited the high school campus each evening for this popular event. College Nights provides an opportunity for students and parents to learn more about college and university cost, size, undergraduate majors, student housing and the application process.

Students and families from Stratford and Spring Woods high schools and Westchester Academy attend College Night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Memorial and Northbrook high schools and the Spring Branch School of Choice will attend the second evening on Wednesday, Oct. 15, also from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Students should attend on their high school’s designated night.

SBISD schools will kick off the event by scheduling campus College Days on October 14 and 15, which will include campus-based activities, such as wearing shirts with college or university alumni logos, and with activities that emphasize post-secondary preparation and enrollment.

For more information, please contact your campus counselor or SBISD’s Coordinator for Post-Secondary Guidance & Counseling Programs Hortencia Vega at 713-464-1511, ext. 2265. Or visit the department’s website.

Spring Branch SAT Scores Increase in All Categories and Exceed the State and US in Both Scores and Participation Rates

Spring Branch just received good news about our SAT scores.  While Texas results dropped 2 to 4 points in each test - Critical Reading -4, Math -2, and Writing -2, and national results were unchanged from the previous year, SBISD students improved in all tests, with the greatest gains in Writing – Critical Reading +4, Math +6, and Writing +11.  Here are our scores compared to both the State and Nation (click the table to enlarge):

This news follows the recent similarly good news about the District's results on the ACT Test.

These results stand as proof of the increases we are seeing as a result of our strong college focus in Spring Branch.

The College Board has issued this press release on this year's scores, and the Texas Education Agency has issued this press release as well.

Spring Branch ISD Gets Good News on the ACT: We Continue to Increase Participation and Substantially Outperform the State

Spring Branch received very positive news last week.  Our results on the ACT substantially outperform the results for the State of Texas.  And we accomplished this at the same time we increased participation by 25%. 

While the results show there is still room for improvement, it appears clear that the District's college focus and goal that all students will graduate and then obtain a 2 year certificate, 2 year Associates Degree, or 4 year Baccalaureate Degree is showing very positive results.  The results are here (.pdf) or click on the images below.

Spring Branch Students Offered Scholarships Totaling $16,388,024

Spring Branch is a District focused on ensuring that our students are prepared for college and post-secondary success.  As part of that commitment, and given the increasing costs of college, our Post-Secondary Counselors work hard to identify and promote scholarship opportunities for students.  These efforts resulted in $16,388,024 being offered to Spring Branch ISD seniors in 2007-2008.  This is an increase of approximately $1.5 million over 2006-2007.  In addition, the percentage of students receiving scholarships also increased from 21.22% to 26.36% of our students.