The College Board announced last week that the number of high school students taking challenging courses such as precalculus, calculus, and physics has increased over the past decade. This has contributed to a record-high score on the math portion of the SAT for the class of 2005.
According to the organization, the average math score for the class of 2005 was 520 out of a possible 800. This is 2 points higher than the average score for the class of 2004 and 14 points higher than the average score for the class of 1995. However, there was no change in the average verbal score from the previous year, with students scoring an average of 508 out of 800. Since 1995, there has only been a 4-point increase in the average verbal score.
It is important to note that these scores do not reflect the revised SAT, which was first administered in March of 2005. The revised SAT includes new sections, such as an essay portion, and changes to the math and verbal sections.
Gaston Caperton, the president of the College Board, expressed his enthusiasm for the improvement in math scores and emphasized the importance of enrolling more students in challenging courses. He believes that developing reasoning and advanced literacy skills is crucial in today’s interconnected and digital world.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics also praised the gains in math scores, stating that the increased focus on math education in the country is paying off. NCTM President Cathy Seeley emphasized the importance of students taking math every year of school and enrolling in higher-level courses in high school.
Preliminary results for the new SAT, which was administered three times last spring, have been released by the College Board. However, a full report reflecting a complete high school class’s experience with the revised SAT will not be available for another year. The new SAT includes a writing section with an essay component, as well as questions that test students’ ability to identify errors and improve sentences and paragraphs. The revised SAT has a maximum score of 2400, compared to the previous maximum of 1600, and covers more advanced math topics.
Mr. Caperton noted that the combined math and critical-reading scores for the new test were higher than the combined math and verbal scores for the class of 2005. He explained that this is because the most ambitious high school students usually take the SAT in the spring of their junior year, and they were heavily represented among the first test-takers for the revised SAT. He expects the scores for next year’s students to decrease once a broader range of students from the class of 2006 have taken the test.
The College Board officials could not determine whether the writing score was satisfactory in the first year of the new test. However, they hope that the test itself will help improve the quality of students’ writing. English professor Howard Tinberg believes that the writing test will have a positive impact on teaching in schools and expects that teachers will give students more opportunities to write in class, leading to improved scores.
In terms of demographics, 38% of test-takers in the class of 2005 belonged to a minority group, which is the highest proportion ever for the SAT. However, African-American, Mexican-American, and other Hispanic students showed minimal gains in scores over the past decade. While Asian-American and white students saw increases in their scores, black students and Mexican-Americans made little progress, and other Hispanic students fell behind. Puerto Rican students, on the other hand, experienced a 12-point gain in scores.
