Every year, students across the country take the SAT and ACT, standardized testing used during college applications, and Advanced Placement tests. On average, Frisco ISD students outscored their peers on the SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement exams, according to district data.

Gary Nye, executive director of continuous improvement, presented the district’s academic assessment data for 2023 to the Board of Trustees. According to Nye, about 23% of FISD graduates complete the ACT exam and in 2023, Frisco ISD students scored an average of 25, with the state average at 19.3 and the national average at 19.5, according to the presentation.

Frisco ISD’s wide range of curricular topics and depth of instruction leads to heightened scores according to campus principal Stacey Whaling. 

“I think part of that is we don’t teach to the test,” Whaling said. “We really dig into what the standards and skills are that we feel like our kids need to be successful in whatever pathway they choose. I think because we focus so much on the skills and picking the most powerful pieces of content kids just automatically are prepared.”

Much of the ACT and SAT content, especially for math, is taught in course curriculum, according to Algebra 2 and AP Calculus BC teacher Jennifer Rumery.

“Especially for Algebra 2, that’s a huge component of the SAT math section,” Rumery said. “So I think teaching all that algebraic manipulation, and the why and the how combined is really good SAT prep. For those sophomores and juniors, just that extra practice with higher level math and learning why things work I think is very helpful.”

Although it is common to work on practice problems and utilize tutoring in testing preparation, for many students, the foundational knowledge is taught as early as middle school.

“I think math classes like geometry, algebra 1 and algebra 2 especially helped me on the math section of the SAT,” senior Sophie Yang said. “The English classes helped with the reading section and being in GT in middle school helped me with the writing section because of the grammar lessons we had.”

Extending beyond standardizing testing to AP tests, Rumery believes the district’s conceptual approach is key to success score-wise.

“I do think we have a more conceptual approach than some districts which I think can be really helpful,” Rumery said. “The how is great, but knowing why really helps you apply problems in new ways, which Collegeboard always wants you to do.”

The consistency of scores can also be attributed to strong teachers, according to Whaling.

“I feel like we’re really focused on the right things and when we’re hiring, so our retention and recruitment of great educators is actually much higher than in other places,” she said. “So I think because we keep the best of the best and we’re able to recruit the best of the best, it only makes sense that our students reap the benefits of that.”