Students with a classical education often demonstrate strong performance on the SAT compared to the national average. Here’s a breakdown of how they typically fare:
General Trends:
- Higher Scores: Research consistently indicates that students from classical education programs tend to achieve higher average SAT scores than their peers in public, conventional religious, and secular private schools. Some studies suggest an average advantage of over 100 points on the total SAT score.
- Verbal Strengths: The advantage for classically educated students is often more pronounced in the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) section of the SAT. This is attributed to the rigorous reading of complex texts, emphasis on grammar (often through Latin studies), and development of strong writing and analytical skills inherent in a classical curriculum.
- Math Performance: While the verbal advantage is typically larger, some data also suggests that classically educated students perform well in the Math section, possibly due to the logical reasoning and problem-solving skills fostered by the curriculum, including the study of Euclidean geometry and formal logic.
