The average scores of 2009 high-school graduates who took the SAT were similar to last year's as the number of test-takers and the proportion who were minorities grew, according to a report released Tuesday by the College Board, which owns the test.
"The SAT Class of 2009 is a record-breaker," said Laurence Bunin, senior vice president of the SAT program, noting that it was the largest and most diverse group to take the test.
This year the average scores were 501 on the critical-reading section, 515 on the mathematics section and 493 in writing. The average mathematics score is the same as it was in 2008, while the reading and writing scores each dropped one point. Each section is scored on a scale from 200 to 800.
More than 1.5 million high-school graduates took the test—about 1,530,000 this year compared with about 1,519,000 last year. Forty percent of the test-takers were members of minority groups, compared with 38 percent last year. Yet worrying gaps remain between male and female students, and between students of different ethnic groups and family incomes, and some of those gaps widened this year, said Robert A. Schaeffer, public-education director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. For example, black students had the lowest average combined mathematics and critical-reading score, 855, while white students had an average combined score of 1,064.
Among students who reported that their family income was more than $200,000, there was a 26-point increase in the average combined score for all three sections over last year, from 1,676 to 1,702. About a third of test-takers did not report their family income. Still, College Board officials say the gaps reflect differences in students' academic preparation. "I think what you're really seeing is the gaps are increasing for students who have better preparation," said Wayne Camera, vice president of research and development at the College Board.
The College Board argues that SAT scores and high-school grades together form the best predictor of college grades. Of the test's three sections, writing is the most predictive, according to the College Board's research. The writing section was introduced in the spring of 2005, and "we are getting a sense more and more colleges are using it," Mr. Bunin said.
The market-share gap between the SAT and ACT has been closing, with 1.48 million high-school graduates taking the ACT this year.
Average Scores on the SAT Reasoning Test By Ethnicity
| Self-Reported Ethnicity | Number | Percent | Critical Reading Mean | Mathematics Mean | Writing Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Source: "2009 College-Bound Seniors," College Board |
|||||
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 8,974 | 1 | 486 | 493 | 469 |
| Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander | 158,757 | 10 | 516 | 587 | 520 |
| Black or African American | 187,136 | 12 | 429 | 426 | 421 |
| Mexican or Mexican American | 79,766 | 5 | 453 | 463 | 446 |
| Puerto Rican | 22,881 | 1 | 452 | 450 | 443 |
| Other Hispanic, Latino, or Latin American | 103,937 | 7 | 455 | 461 | 448 |
| White | 851,014 | 56 | 528 | 536 | 517 |
| Other | 51,215 | 3 | 494 | 514 | 493 |
| No Response | 66,448 | 4 | 472 | 501 | 469 |
| Total | 1,530,128 | 100 | 501 | 515 | 493 |
Comments
1. 12052592 - August 25, 2009 at 04:23 pm
According to the chart in the article, Asians are a "minority" population taking the test, and they are outperforming everyone. So what point is there in the white vs. black comparison in the example?
2. greenhills73 - August 25, 2009 at 05:26 pm
It is not surprising to me that the ACT is improving it's market share. Just one reason that occurs to me is that the ACT has a science section while the SAT does not. American students are woefully behind many other nations in math and the sciences, and the ACT helps to assess students' preparation in the latter.
3. princeton67 - August 25, 2009 at 07:59 pm
I wish we could see comparisons based on ethnicity AND income.
From The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, http://www.jbhe.com/latest/index012209_p.html:
"But income differences explain only part of the racial gap in SAT scores. For black and white students from families with incomes of more than $200,000 in 2008, there still remains a huge 149-point gap in SAT scores. Even more startling is the fact that in 2008 black students from families with incomes of more than $200,000 scored lower on the SAT test than did students from white families with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000.
But the fact is that even when family income levels are similar, we are still comparing black and white students who are as different as apples and oranges in terms of educational sophistication, family educational heritage, family wealth, and access to educational tools and resources. The average white family in the same income group is far better equipped than the average black family to prepare their children for success on the SAT test."
But, as the above chart indicates, ALL minority groups, even those not associated with wealth or academia, outscore Blacks by at least 23 points. Even if another language - Spanish, Chinese, Inuit - characterizes that group.