Average Score

The conventional wisdom is that allowances make children responsible money managers as they learn to budget so they don't run out of cash. But Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and former dean of business at the State University of New York in Buffalo, says that's not always the case. In fact, says Mandell, who has studied financial literacy, certain allowances may even be hurting kids. According to Mandell, high school students who didn't get an allowance performed better on a financial literacy test than those who did, especially teens who received stipends with no strings attached.

What do you think of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its parent, Exelon Corp.? Some companies survey customers to find out. Results are mixed. J.D. Power and Associates' most recent survey -- for 2012 -- shows BGE with a roughly average score for large utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but substantially below average overall. BGE's 598 score for customer satisfaction among electric residential customers, on a 1,000-point scale, ranked it below 109 of the 126 utilities the marketing-information firm surveyed.

Op-ed contributor Carlene Buccino's argument against the objectivity of SAT scores is compelling but flawed ("The best test scores money can buy," Dec. 13). There is a robust literature that supports the use of SAT scores in the admissions process. Generally, institutions of higher learning are well-versed regarding literature that suggests the cultural, socio-economic and gender biases of the SAT and other standardized exams. In fact, some institutions tier the SAT bottom-line in adherence to the literature.

Op-ed contributor Carlene Buccino's argument against the objectivity of SAT scores is compelling but flawed ("The best test scores money can buy," Dec. 13). There is a robust literature that supports the use of SAT scores in the admissions process. Generally, institutions of higher learning are well-versed regarding literature that suggests the cultural, socio-economic and gender biases of the SAT and other standardized exams. In fact, some institutions tier the SAT bottom-line in adherence to the literature.

What do you think of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its parent, Exelon Corp.? Some companies survey customers to find out. Results are mixed. J.D. Power and Associates' most recent survey -- for 2012 -- shows BGE with a roughly average score for large utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but substantially below average overall. BGE's 598 score for customer satisfaction among electric residential customers, on a 1,000-point scale, ranked it below 109 of the 126 utilities the marketing-information firm surveyed.

Anne Arundel County high school seniors' scores improved this year on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, with a gain of nine points on both the math and verbal portions of the test.Countywide, the average score on the verbal portion of the test was 435, compared to 426 points earned by last year's graduates. The statewide average this year was 431.On the math portion of the test, Anne Arundel seniors averaged 493 points, compared to 484 points scored by 1992 graduates. The statewide average score on the math test was 478.The SAT is used to predict a student's ability to succeed in the first year of college and is an admissions requirement for many colleges and universities.

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target. That's one of the findings of an index released today that scores the top 100 online retailers on customer satisfaction. ForeSee's Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index based its analysis on nearly 21,000 surveys of online shoppers in the first quarter of 2012. The scores, calculated on a 100-point scale, range from a high of 89 for Amazon to a low of 69 for Ancestry.com and efollett.com. The top six, all with scores of 83 or higher, were Amazon, Apple, QVC, Keurig, Avon and L.L. Bean.

Howard County's college-bound seniors scored lower on the verbal and math portions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test this year, school officials said yesterday.The average score of the 1,572 Howard County students who took the test during the 1992-1993 school year was 969. That combined math and verbal score was a drop of seven points from the previous year's score of 976.Despite the drop, the combined average score was still higher than the statewide average, 909, and the national average, 902. The highest possible combined score a student could receive on the SAT, which used by colleges to gauge the potential of students seeking admission, is 1,600.

Anne Arundel County high school students increased their average SAT score for the 2008-2009 school year four points over the previous year, scored nine points higher than the national average and 21 points over the state average. It was the 13th consecutive year that county seniors have seen their scores top national and state averages. "These scores offer proof that our efforts to put programs in place and deliver instruction in a way that will help every student achieve his or her own potential are paying off," said Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell.

Howard County's Class of 1996 earned higher math and verbal scores on the national Scholastic Assessment Test than did the class of 1995, the county school system announced yesterday.The improvement by Howard students on the SAT topped the average gains posted by last spring's high school graduates in Maryland and in the rest of the country.The SAT is an examination used in the college admissions process, and it is intended to indicate how students will perform academically during their first year of college.

C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air posted the top composite Scholastic Aptitude Test score in the 2011-12 school year, as all three greater Bel Air area schools - CMW, Bel Air High and Patterson Mill High - finished in the top five among Harford's 10 public high schools, as did Fallston and North Harford. According to SAT averages for 2011-12 released by Harford County Public Schools, the 207 C. Milton Wright students who took the SAT last school year had an average composite score of more than 1,600 for the test's three components: critical reading, mathematics and writing.

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target. That's one of the findings of an index released today that scores the top 100 online retailers on customer satisfaction. ForeSee's Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index based its analysis on nearly 21,000 surveys of online shoppers in the first quarter of 2012. The scores, calculated on a 100-point scale, range from a high of 89 for Amazon to a low of 69 for Ancestry.com and efollett.com. The top six, all with scores of 83 or higher, were Amazon, Apple, QVC, Keurig, Avon and L.L. Bean.

The conventional wisdom is that allowances make children responsible money managers as they learn to budget so they don't run out of cash. But Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and former dean of business at the State University of New York in Buffalo, says that's not always the case. In fact, says Mandell, who has studied financial literacy, certain allowances may even be hurting kids. According to Mandell, high school students who didn't get an allowance performed better on a financial literacy test than those who did, especially teens who received stipends with no strings attached.

Maryland motorists might not be the nation's worst, but they seem to be close contenders. The state's drivers scored third from the bottom this year in an annual written test of knowledge of the rules of the road, according to GMAC Insurance. Maryland drivers placed 49th out of 51 in the company's seventh annual National Driver's Test, with a score of 73.3 percent, trailing only Hawaii (73 percent) and the basement-dwelling District of Columbia. Rounding out the Feckless Five were New Jersey in 48th and Massachusetts in 47th place.

While Baltimore County continued to see an increase in the number of its graduating seniors taking the SAT, the mean scores went down by 10 points overall compared to the previous year, according to results released recently. More than half the graduates in 2010 took the SATs and the mean combined SAT score for the writing, critical reading and math tests was 1487, below both the state and national mean score. Statewide, the combined score went up 5 points to 1502, and the national average of 1509 was unchanged.

Anne Arundel County high school students increased their average SAT score for the 2008-2009 school year four points over the previous year, scored nine points higher than the national average and 21 points over the state average. It was the 13th consecutive year that county seniors have seen their scores top national and state averages. "These scores offer proof that our efforts to put programs in place and deliver instruction in a way that will help every student achieve his or her own potential are paying off," said Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell.

Howard County students continue to top the national average on standardized tests that measure students' knowledge in math, language and reading.More than 80 percent of students in the third and fifth grades who took the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills last spring scored in the high-average or above-average range.Fifty percent of the students had scores as high as or higher than those projected by another standardized test, the Test of Cognitive Skills.Of the students whose scores failed to meet projections, nearly a third fell more than 30 points short of what was expected.

The graduating classes of five of Howard County's eight high schools earned higher scores last year on the national Scholastic Assessment Test than the classes of 1994.The average SAT math score rose two points last year to 524, and the average verbal score increased six points to 458.The average math score of 524 and the average total score of 982 were the highest in county history, Leslie Walker-Bartnick, the county's director of testing, told the Howard County school board Tuesday night.

Anne Arundel County students continue to score higher on SAT tests than their peers across the state and nation, but their results on the critical college indicator test fell for the third consecutive year, according to data released this week by the test administrator. County students who took the SAT in the 2007-2008 school year scored an average of 1,514 points, 16 points better than the state average and three points higher than the national average, but it was a five point decrease from last year, according to the College Board.

Anne Arundel school administrators, though proud of the gains students made on the SAT during the last school year, want to sustain those gains over a longer period with strategies such as preparation courses and literacy programs. The average scores at some high schools varied by more than 35 points from last school year. In addition to maintaining gains or recovering from losses, principals and staffs are gearing up for changes the College Board, which oversees the SAT, will roll out in the spring.