Class of '07's SAT Scores Drop Slightly

[tako]

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The 2007 high school graduating class in California and across the nation scored slightly worse on the SAT college admissions exam than students did a year ago, officials said Tuesday. Small declines were seen in all three sections of the test, including the essay-writing portion that began two years ago.</p>

<p>Officials of the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the exam, said the declines were not statistically significant and were partly caused by a record number of test-takers, including more students for whom English was not exclusively their first language. More than 1.49 million people in the class of 2007 took the exam, up about 2% from last year.</p>

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<p>Some analysts attributed those drops to the fatigue caused by a longer test with essay writing. “For teenagers, it’s exhausting. Your peak performance is faded by hour three and you don’t ever want to do the marathon again,” said Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, or FairTest, an organization that is a longtime critic of the SAT. He said the College Board should study proposals to spread the test over two days and to make the essay writing optional.</p>

<p>However, the College Board suggested that declines in 2006 were partly because of fewer students taking the exam more than once; scores often go up on a second test.</p>

<p>This year’s small declines probably were caused by a larger pool of test-takers, according to Laurence Bunin, the College Board’s senior vice president of operations. Among other things, he cited a new requirement in Maine that all high school students – not just the college-bound – take the SAT. In trends that may have a similar effect, about 24% of test-takers did not have English as their sole first language, compared with 17% a decade ago, and more test-takers qualified for SAT low-income fee waivers.

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Tuesday’s announcement renewed debate – even among college admissions officers – about whether the scores are comparable to previous years.</p>

<p>In 2006, after the College Board lengthened and redesigned the exam, math and reading results suffered their steepest decline in more than 30 years. The new test added a writing section and higher-level math.</p>

<p>The College Board, which administers the SAT, had assured educators the tests would be compatible. The group insisted Tuesday the declines were within normal historical fluctuations and not significant.</p>

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