RESEARCH STUDY - FY20-FY25 COLLEGE READINESS BASED ON SAT AND ACT TEST RESULTS - Feb 27, 2026

Oct 15, 2026

Interactive SAT and ACT Results Dashboard data from FY20 through FY25 summarize participation and performance by school and student subgroup, including the share meeting College Readiness Benchmarks. The study highlights stable FY22–FY25 grade 11 participation, a notable FY22–FY25 decline in grade 12 participation, and overall lower FY25 combined participation. It reports relatively steady SAT EBRW trends, shifting SAT Math and ACT section averages, and benchmark changes for grades 11–12 across reading and math. Next steps guide staff use of readiness indicators for graduation and college goals.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Participation Rates: FY20 to FY25

Average Scores: FY20 to FY25

College and Career Readiness Benchmarks: FY20 to FY25

Next Steps

RESEARCH STUDY: FY20-FY25 COLLEGE READINESS BASED ON SAT AND ACT TEST RESULTS February 27, 2026 The SAT and ACT assessments help students monitor academic progress and prepare them to achieve their college and career goals. Graduating high school students who meet College Readiness Benchmarks are more likely to succeed in college-level courses. The criteria for meeting College Readiness Benchmarks for District students are specified by the test developers (for SAT, see College Board Benchmarks; for ACT see ACT Readiness Benchmarks) .1 The Department of Research, Evaluation & Assessment (DREA) developed an interactive SAT and ACT Results Dashboard summarizing assessment data by school and student subgroup from FY20 to FY25 . Data include the number of test-takers, participation rates, and percentage of test-takers meeting College Readiness Benchmarks. Although the annual SAT and ACT District profile reports summarize only grade 12 cohort students, this report includes test-takers in grade 11 to provide a comprehensive snapshot of FY20, FY21, FY22, FY23, FY24, and FY25 participation and performance for the District. This document outlines some highlevel observations from the Dashboard. Participation Rates: FY20 to FY25 • Gade 11 participation rate on the SAT or ACT remained steady overall from FY22 to FY25 at 88% . Participation rates for Black, Hispanic, and White students remained stable (within 2 percentage points) from FY22 to FY25 . • From FY22 to FY25, the grade 12 combined SAT or ACT participation rate was reduced by approximately 13 percentage points both at the District level and across most ethnic subgroups. This decline likely reflects increased participation in the CLT, resulting in fewer students using the SAT or ACT to obtain concordance scores. • In FY25, the combined SAT or ACT participation rate was 65% overall, down slightly from 68% in FY24 . • Overall, SAT participation exceeded ACT participation. This difference may be partially attributed to the District’s annual SAT Day, which offers the SAT free of charge to all grade 11 students. Average Scores: FY20 to FY25 • SAT EBRW2 average scores have remained relatively stable, with slight fluctuations, from 510 in FY20 to 511 in FY25 • SAT Math average scores have been gradually decreasing from 484 in FY20 to 468 in FY24, then slightly increased to 481 in FY25 . • ACT English and Reading average scores dropped from 19 to 18 from FY20 to FY23, but remained stable from FY23 to FY25 . 1 For the purposes of the present report, ACT’s Reading and Mathematics sections were used. 2 Evidence Based Reading and Writing • ACT Math scores decreased from 18 to 16 in FY20 through FY24, with a slight uptick to 17 in FY25 . College and Career Readiness Benchmarks: FY20 to FY25 • The percentage of students in grades 11 meeting College Readiness Benchmarks in Reading on either the SAT or ACT increased from FY20 (57%) to FY22 (62%) . However, a downward trend was observed from FY22 to FY25 (58%) . The percentage of grade 11 students meeting College Readiness Benchmarks in Math declined from FY20 (32%) to FY24 (27%), followed by a slight rebound in FY25 (30%) . The percent of students meeting College Readiness Benchmarks in both Reading and Math in grade 11 on either the SAT or ACT decreased from FY20 (31%) to FY22 (28%), but remained relatively stable from FY22 to FY25 (28%) . • The percentage of students in grade 12 meeting College Readiness Benchmarks in Reading on either the SAT or ACT remained relatively stable from FY20 to FY24, with an increase in FY25 (67%) . The percentage of grade 12 students meeting College Readiness Benchmarks in Math and both Reading and Math demonstrated a similar pattern, slight declines in the percentage of students meeting benchmarks from FY20 to FY22 followed by an increase from FY22 to FY25 . Next Steps Staff are encouraged to explore test participation and College Readiness data to guide students toward mee

FAQs

What data does the SAT and ACT Results Dashboard include for FY20–FY25?

It summarizes assessment data by school and student subgroup, including number of test-takers, participation rates, and the percentage meeting College Readiness Benchmarks.

How did grade 12 combined SAT/ACT participation change from FY22 to FY25?

It declined by approximately 13 percentage points at the District level and across most ethnic subgroups, with FY25 reaching 65% overall.

What trends are reported for College Readiness Benchmarks in reading and math?

For grade 11, reading benchmarks rose from FY20 to FY22 then fell through FY25, while math benchmarks declined overall with a slight FY25 rebound. For grade 12, reading was relatively stable through FY24 with an increase in FY25, while math and combined benchmarks followed a similar slight-decline then increase pattern.

Oct 15, 2026

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