Bios and Senior Year Academic Rigor

There is no option of reducing the class load and the subject difficulty for the senior class of Bios Christian Academy. Graduating early or learning with less than a full load of classes is not allowed for our fourth year high school students. Having such expectations of our students produces students who stand out from the rest of their freshman college class in skills, confidence, and preparedness. And we are not alone in this concept.

In a press release dated 9/13/10, the CollegeBoard had this to say about college preparedness. "Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond."

CollegeBoard, the publishers of the SAT college readiness test, is referring to their analysis of the test results of almost 1.6 million students. The article goes on to explain more about rigorous courses.

"Students in the class of 2010 who reported completing a core curriculum — defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of mathematics, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history — scored, on average, 151 points higher on the SAT than those who did not complete a core curriculum."

All SAT Takers	Critical Reading	Mathematics	Writing
Core Curriculum	518	531	509
Non-Core Curriculum	467	481	459
Difference	+51	+50	+50
Bios	583.3	570	568.3
Bios Difference	+116.3	+89	+109.3

Notice the even higher difference exemplified by the Bios students. Those are big differences from a school which does not screen students for academic ability.


From our experience, the four years of math, four years of science, four years of English, and four years Bible, along with three years of history, support our students greatly in not only being prepared for college but in completing four years of college successfully.

The Bios difference is because of our excellent instructors, differentiated instruction, clear individualized goals, and four full years of a rigorous high school education.