Assessment

SAT Scores Remain Steady; Minority Improvement Noted

September 21, 2004 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The average combined SAT score for 2004 was unchanged from the previous year, according to results released last week.

According to the College Board, the New York City-based owner of the college-entrance exam, the SAT had a record-high 1,419,000 test-takers this year.

“SAT Scores Hold Steady for College-Bound Seniors,” is available online from CollegeBoard. (Requires Adobe’s Acrobat Reader.)

The average verbal score went up only 1 point, to 508, and the average score on the math section decreased by a point, to 518, SAT officials said. For each of those sections, the highest possible score is 800. The average combined score was 1026 out of 1600.

While they hesitate to call it a trend, College Board officials are cautiously optimistic that the 1-point verbal increase this year and the 3-point rise last year signal the beginning of a consistent upswing in verbal scores.

“Verbal scores had been flat for the past five years,” said Brian O’Riley, the executive director of SAT information services for the board. “It would be very risky to say that is a sign they will continue to go back up. . [But] we certainly hope it’s a trend in that direction.”

See Also

See the accompanying chart,

Chart: Long-Term Picture

Another positive result this year is the rise in scores for Mexican-Americans, other Hispanics, and American Indians. Mexican-American and other Hispanic students—the two fastest-growing groups of test-takers—posted respective gains of 3 points in verbal, 1 point in math; and 4 points in verbal, 1 point in math.

American Indian students showed jumps of 3 points in verbal and 6 points in math.

African-Americans and Asian-Americans saw a 1-point drop, however, in their average verbal scores. The two groups’ math scores increased by 1 and 2 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, a topic of concern for College Board officials is research that points to grade inflation over the past decade. From 1994 to 2004, the proportion of students taking the SAT who reported a grade average of A rose from 13 percent to 18 percent. At the same time, the SAT scores of those students dropped 4 points in verbal and 1 point in math.

“The way students’ grades are reported, you would expect much bigger upswings in test scores” on the SAT, said Mr. O’Riley. “One conclusion is that it’s easier to get an A.”

ACT and SAT Findings

When scores were released last month for the ACT, the country’s other major college-admission test, an analysis by the Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT suggested that many students were not prepared for college-level math classes because they weren’t taking enough advanced classes in high school. (“ACT Scores Show a Slight Increase,” Sept. 1, 2004.)

However, the College Board reported last week that the number of students taking advanced math and calculus classes has shown improvement. In 1994, just 35 percent of SAT-test-takers were taking advanced math courses. This year, that share increased to 46 percent. Twenty-one percent of students in 1994 were taking calculus, compared with 25 percent for the graduating class of 2004.

In addition, although ACT officials noted that more students were prepared for college-level writing courses, the SAT results show that 64 percent of students in the graduating class of 2004 had taken English composition—down from 76 percent in 1994. The percentage of SAT students who had taken grammar classes fell from 80 percent in 1994 to 67 percent this year.

Starting next March, students in the class of 2006 will be taking a new version of the SAT. The new test will feature higher-level math, more reading passages, and a writing section, which will include an essay and multiple-choice questions. (“Students, Test-Prep Firms Get a Jump on Revised SAT,” May 26, 2004.)

Related Tags:
SAT

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Assessment From Our Research Center Do State Tests Accurately Measure What Students Need to Know?
Some educators argue that state tests don't do much more than evaluate students' ability to perform under pressure.
2 min read
Tight cropped photograph of a bubble sheet test with  a pencil.
E+
Assessment Why the Pioneers of High School Exit Exams Are Rolling Them Back
Massachusetts is doing away with a decades-old graduation requirement. What will take its place?
7 min read
Close up of student holding a pencil and filling in answer sheet on a bubble test.
iStock/Getty
Assessment Massachusetts Voters Poised to Ditch High School Exit Exam
The support for nixing the testing requirement could foreshadow public opinion on state standardized testing in general.
3 min read
Tight cropped photograph of a bubble sheet test with  a pencil.
E+
Assessment This School Didn't Like Traditional Grades. So It Created Its Own System
Principals at this middle school said the transition to the new system took patience and time.
6 min read
Close-up of a teacher's hands grading papers in the classroom.
E+/Getty