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The sharpest local finding

SAT participation rose across Texas and fell in Montgomery County

Black students' SAT/ACT participation climbed statewide while Montgomery County's fell 9 points. The county diverged from a rising state.

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The brick main entrance of The Woodlands High School in Texas, with three flag poles in the foreground
The Woodlands High School in Montgomery County, where Black students' SAT/ACT participation fell from 79% to 66% between the 2016-19 and 2023-24 eras. Photo: WhisperToMe, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

In 2012, about 72% of Black graduates statewide had taken the SAT or ACT, and Montgomery County looked the same at 74%. By 2024, Texas had climbed to 81% and Montgomery County had slid to 65%.

Black graduates who took the SAT or ACT
65707580201220152018202120248165
Montgomery County combines every regular high school in the county, hundreds of students per year.

This is not disengagement. The county's Black testers roughly doubled, from 212 to 454 a year; the graduating class just grew faster. The result is that about 248 Black graduates a year now finish high school there without ever sitting for a college entrance exam.

Nor is it county-wide: two campuses, Magnolia and College Park, rose past the state. The slide concentrates at a handful of schools, which is what makes it actionable: a test-taking problem at specific campuses is fixable in a way a statewide achievement gap is not.

How does your school compare?

Every Texas campus, every student group, 2012–2025.

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