SAT scores for the class of 2005 are available:
The high school class of 2005 earned the highest-ever marks on the math portion of the SAT, a modest change that continues the steady 25-year trend of improvement on the country's most popular standardized college entrance exam. Significant gaps between racial groups remain, however, and officials said they are troubled by the comparative lack of progress in scores on the test's verbal section.Last year's seniors averaged 520 out of a possible 800 on the math portion, 2 points higher than the class of 2004. Average scores on the verbal section were unchanged at 508, according to results released Tuesday by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the SAT.
A teaser for the new SAT scores:
The College Board also released its first glimpse of data on the new version of the SAT, which features a writing section with an essay, and which members of the class of 2006 began taking last spring. Those students appeared to find the new section the hardest, with average scores of 516, compared to 519 in critical reading (the new name for verbal) and 537 in math.
CNN claims this is the highest math level in 32 years. Interestingly, this was also the highest percentage (46) of high school graduates ever taking the exam and highest percentage (35) of minorities ever taking it. One could argue that perhaps an increased number of ESL students taking the exam led to stagnant verbal scores - but that doesn't explain the higher math scores.
(Via PoliPundit.)
Posted by kswygert at August 30, 2005 03:17 PM