National SAT scores dip again; state's decrease not as steep (click at title)
State's decrease not as steep
P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Average math and reading SAT scores nationwide fell four points for the high school class of 2007 to their lowest mark since 1999. In Washington state, the same scores fell two points.
Last spring's graduating seniors scored, on average, 502 out of a possible 800 points on the critical reading section of the country's most popular college entrance exam, down from 503 for the class of 2006 nationally. Math scores fell three points, from 518 to 515.
This year's declines follow a seven-point drop last year for the first class to take a lengthened and redesigned SAT, which included higher-level math questions and eliminated analogies. The College Board, which owns the exam, insisted the new exam wasn't harder and attributed last year's drop to fewer students taking the exam a second time. Students typically fare about 30 points better when they take the exam again.
The College Board's score report, released Tuesday, did not offer an explanation why this year's scores were even lower, but it did note that a record number of students -- just short of 1.5 million -- took the test. The cohort of test takers also was the most diverse ever, with minority students accounting for 39 percent: There has been a persistent gap between the scores of whites and the two largest U.S. minority groups, Hispanics and blacks.
In New York, 89 percent of students took the exam, up from 88 percent last year. Maine recently became the first state to use the SAT to meet its Grade 11 assessment requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and 100 percent of students took the exam there, compared with about three-quarters in the class of 2006.
In Washington, 53 percent of students took the SAT, one percentage point lower than a year earlier, and the average scores were 526 in reading and 531 in math, each down one point from 2006. The state's average scores were the highest among states in which more than 30 percent of eligible students took the test.
At the University of Washington, students admitted to this year's freshman class had a higher average SAT score, 1251 compared with 1231 from the previous year. Though officials won't know the average SAT score for the new class until school actually begins this fall, admissions director Philip Ballinger said he would be surprised if the number fell below last year's.
"I'm not sure we're going to track the national trend," he said.
The national and statewide decrease could be explained by looking at demographics, he added. Those populations that typically do well on the test -- such as white students -- are diminishing while groups that tend to have lower scores are growing.
Although the growing number of test takers is considered a sign more people are interested in college, it can also weigh down average scores, because the pool of test takers expands by including, on average, more lower-scoring students.
The number of black students taking the SAT rose 6 percent, and the number of test takers listed as "Other Hispanic, Latino or Latin American" (a group that does not include Puerto Ricans or Mexican-Americans) rose more than 25 percent.
Average scores also slipped from 497 to 494 on the writing portion of the SAT, which debuted with the class of 2006. Many colleges are waiting to see results from the first few years of data on the writing exam before determining how to use it. In Washington, the writing score was 510, a one-point decline.
Figures released earlier this month on the rival ACT exam showed a slight increase -- from 21.1 last year to 21.2, on a scale of 1 to 36 -- for the class of 2007.
The SAT has historically been more popular on the East and West coasts, while the ACT has been more popular in the Midwest and inland Western states. But more and more students are taking both exams to try to improve their college resumes.
P-I reporter Christine Frey contributed to this report.
