Amazon's asking cities for their high schooler's SAT scores, & it's a major hint re HQ2 priorities

[FarCenter]

Amazon is pulling out all the stops to ensure that it can recruit and retain the top talent at the site of its new headquarters, or HQ2.

Amazon is asking for specific stats from the cities it's visiting as part of its HQ2 search, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. SAT and ACT scores, as well as other "probing questions regarding how much talent Amazon can attract," have been the topic of conversation during site visits.

This helps bring more clarity to what Amazon has made a very opaque process. When it first announced its headquarters search, Amazon listed education as an important factor in choosing the HQ2 site. Most saw that as Amazon prioritizing cities with well-known, higher-education institutions, but the focus on college-entrance-exam scores shows that Amazon could be taking a longer-term view on the pipeline.

Amazon is also visiting these cities' trendier areas as part of its visits, according to the WSJ, to ensure they are attractive enough to draw younger workers from all over the country.

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-hq2-visits-focus-on-education-2018-4

Amazon won't be able to attract talent to a city with a poor school system.

[Sherman A1]

1. Interesting

I wonder why it wasn't in their original RFP? Certainly makes sense and should be a very big wake up call to all States and Cities.

[themaguffin]

3. I'm guessing that they have several deeper criteria and the RFP had the floor level criteria.

[procon]

2. Now which states would have high SAT scores?

list of the average SAT scores by state.

Massachusetts: 1130
Connecticut: 1126
Minnesota: 1107
New Jersey: 1104
Illinois: 1101
New Hampshire: 1101
North Dakota: 1099
Virginia: 1099
South Dakota: 1099
Iowa: 1098


If you're wonder why states like the Dakotas and Iowa rank so high it's because only 3% of their students take the test compared to other states with 70% and higher participation rates, and even Illinois only has 5% of students taking the test.

States with poor public education programs are crushing the economical futures for not only all those kids, not their decreased earning potential will have a significant cost effect on declining state tax revenues.

Amazon can't be the only company looking at the skills their future workforce will need to build the businesses of the future.

[dsc]

4. North Carolina will be screwed on the ACT scores

Our juniors are required to take the test which means nearly 100 percent of our students take it. Thus our average will be much lower than in most states.

[genxlib]

5. Thanks for posting that

You answered my question as to why the Dakotas rank so high.

But I am stunned by those statistics. I am not surprised that there is significant variability of the numbers of people taking the SAT but I am shocked at how low some of those numbers are. I would expect the low numbers to be between 30%-40% but a third of the states are in single digits.

There has to be more to that statistic. Perhaps the Universities in those areas do not require SAT scores?

[Mariana]

6. Most students in those states may take a different test

like the ACT, for example, instead of the SAT.

[FarCenter]

9. The link in the reply above also give participation adjusted rankings for both SAT and ACT

Average SAT & ACT Scores by State (Participation Adjusted)

https://blog.prepscholar.com/average-sat-and-act-scores-by-stated-adjusted-for-participation-rate

[genxlib]

15. That appears to be the answer

After looking back, the ACT participation rates are higher in those states with low SAT participation.

[karynnj]

8. Many schools require the ACT rather than the SAT

kids wanting to apply often take both tests.

[FarCenter]

10. How to Choose Between Taking the ACT, SAT

One of the differences between the two exams is that the SAT primarily assesses reasoning ability, while the ACT focuses more on strict knowledge. Of course, there is some crossover in material.

The final difference is that the ACT includes a section on science – a subject that is entirely absent from the SAT. For students with a good background in high school-level biology, earth science and physics concepts, this can be an opportunity to shine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-playbook/2013/10/21/how-to-choose-between-taking-the-act-sat

[procon]

13. If Amazon is primarily looking at SAT vs ACT then they are looking for

future innovative technologies on the bleeding edge of cyberspace. They are looking for creative minds and visionaries to design the next concept, the future generation of fantastical devices and unimaginable services to excite new consumers.

The will still need the math and science type to implement those concepts, but it looks to be a very interesting time ahead... for those young enough to see it unfold.

[FarCenter]

16. 3 of 7 Amazon officers, including Bezos, have engineering degrees.

5 also have MBAs.

I'd expect a heavy emphasis on problem solving and quantitative analysis.

[karynnj]

17. A more practical way to choose is to pick the schools you intend to apply to and look at what they

want.

One interesting thought is that if a kid would look significantly better on one versus the other - that might lead them to give extra weight to the schools requiring that. I lived in NJ and all my daughters took the SAT - as did their peers. One daughter also took the ACT because a school she was interested in wanted it.

[FarCenter]

18. The SAT test is more of an intelligence test, while ACT is more of an achievement test.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/where/history.html

https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-history-of-the-act-test

But the coasts tend to use the SAT and flyover country the ACT.

Probably the east coast colleges were looking for really bright students from deprived public school backgrounds who could compete with the product of the elite prep schools that normally fed them.

In the midwest, public education was better and more uniform, so colleges were looking more for students that had the proven ability and motivation to take advantage of their educational opportunities

[procon]

12. Look at all the news reports that show how most states treat education.

The US is falling behind the rest of the industrial world by undervaluing teachers and cutting education funding (except for sports) while they mandated outdated and even fake histories designed to promote conservative orthodoxy.

Why aren't we using multimedia digital tech instead of single focused printed learning materials? Why aren't scientific studies used as the standard to develop the best teaching methods?

Other countries respect their teachers and looking 10-20 years into the future to plan for the advanced academic degrees needed in the fields of math, science and engineering. Meanwhile the backward US president is promoting vocational training and coal mining designed to make the US less able to compete in a very competitive world.

How long can we remain at the top of the heap with Trump's backward thinking?

[FarCenter]

7. Statewide scores aren't very meaningful for Amazon's search

For example, of the top 50 SAT scoring high schools in NJ, none are in Essex County and one is in Hudson County. These are the counties containing the urban core of Newark and Jersey City.

http://www.nj.com/education/2018/01/the_50_nj_high_schools_with_the_best_sat_scores.html

On the other hand, the surrounding counties have better scores:

3 Union
9 Bergen
6 Morris
6 Somerset
6 Middlesex

If Amazon really wants to put their HQ2 in an urban center, they will be very hard pressed to find one that has a good school system.

[Tatiana]

11. Illinois high school juniors were required by state law to take the ACT.

That is why the SAT participation rate is so low. Now, apparently, the state has a contract with the College Board, so HS students will be required to take the SAT.

It's official, according to the state: Testing giant ACT is out and the College Board's SAT is in, bringing a new college entrance exam into Illinois public high schools.

The College Board earlier won a three-year, $14.3 million bid to give its exam to all public high school juniors in Illinois, but rival ACT protested the award in December.

This week, ACT lost its administrative appeal, and the Illinois State Board of Education announced Thursday that it will begin negotiating a contract with the College Board. The nonprofit has been making inroads in the Midwest, though its SAT exam is more widely known on the East Coast.

ISBE officials said the state-funded SAT is supposed to be given this school year — free of charge to high school juniors — though there are complications because of the state's budget standoff and other issues. There are still no state dollars for statewide testing.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-chooses-sat-met-20160211-story.html

[Drahthaardogs]

14. The ACT is more popular in the west and Midwest

I once was told " The SAT is a sneaky east coast test for sneaky east coast people. We're not like that here, so we use the ACT"

It's a regional thing I guess.