Old
SAT departs on record turnout and top
score
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 • BY
KELLY HEYBOER • Star-Ledger
Staff
Students said goodbye to the old version
of the SAT by turning out for the exam in record numbers and
averaging the highest math score in the test's history, the
College Board announced yesterday.
Nearly 1.5 million members of the Class
of 2005 took the college entrance exam, according to the
College Board report. They were the last to take the SAT
before a new version was introduced last spring with harder
math questions and a new essay section.
The graduating class averaged a record
520 (out of a possible 800) on the math portion of the test,
a 14-point jump over a decade ago, according to the report.
The average score on the verbal section held steady from
last year at 508.
"I am encouraged by the improvement
demonstrated in math," said Gaston Caperton, president of
the College Board, the nonprofit group that oversees the
exam.
"However, the relatively flat trend in
verbal scores indicates what we have observed for years: the
need to redouble efforts to emphasize the core literacy
skills of reading and writing in all courses across the
curriculum starting in the earliest grades," Caperton
added.
New Jersey students also showed
improvement this year, according to the report. They
averaged 517 on the math, a 3-point increase over last year
and a 14-point jump over a decade ago.
The state's high school seniors scored
503 on the verbal section, a 2-point increase over last year
and 7 points better than a decade ago.
New Jersey's scores continued to lag
behind the national average because an unusually high number
of the state's high school students take the test each year
unlike other states where only top students sit for the
exam.
Last year, New Jersey, Massachusetts and
Connecticut each sent 86 percent of their graduating classes
to take the SAT. Only New York ranked higher, with 92
percent of students sitting for the exam.
Richard Ten Eyck, New Jersey's assistant
commissioner for educational programs and assessment, said
the SAT scores were good news. More New Jersey students are
taking the SAT while the scores climbed.
"That's an indication of the fact that
there are some very good things happening in New Jersey
schools," Ten Eyck said. "More and more kids are inclined to
think about college."
This was the last year the SAT was scored
on a 1600-point scale with two 800-point sections. The new
version of the test, introduced in March, has three
sections, including the new writing section. The new perfect
score is 2400.
College Board officials offered a glimpse
of how students did this spring during the first three test
dates using the new version of the SAT. Students averaged a
537 on the revised math section, a 519 on the new critical
reading section and a 516 on the writing section, according
to the report.
But College Board officials cautioned not
to read too much into the preliminary scores because they
represent a limited number of high school juniors who signed
up to take the new test last spring. Since it was such a
small group of high-achieving juniors, they were expected to
score higher than the national average on the old
test.
A more comprehensive picture of the new
version of the SAT will emerge next summer after the Class
of 2006 finishes taking the exam.
Critics of the SAT continue to argue the
exam and other standardized tests are hopelessly flawed. The
latest SAT scores show African-American, Hispanic and Native
American students continue to score worse than white
students. Women also score lower than men, according to the
report.
"The evidence is clear," said Monty
Neill, co-executive director of the National Center for Fair
& Open Testing, a chief SAT critic. "The nation cannot
test its way to better schools. Quality must be built-in
through comprehensive educational reform."
But College Board officials said they
were pleased with the new version of the SAT and the added
essay section.
"We believe it is a much better test and
a much fairer test," said Caperton, the president of the
College Board. "I think you are going to see that American
students become much better writers."
Eugene Byuen, a senior at Governor
Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, took both the
old and new versions of the SAT. He said the new version,
with the new essay section, seemed to better measure what he
learned in school.
But the key to doing well remains hard
work, Byuen said. He plans to take four Advanced Placement
classes this fall.
"To score well on the SAT, you really
need to do well at school," said Byuen, 17.
Kelly Heyboer covers higher education. She may be reached
at khey boer@starledger.com or (973) 392-5929.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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