What the new SAT scores reveal about modern school reform
The newly released scores on the SAT college admissions test turned out to be the lowest since the exam was redesigned in 2005. My Post colleague Nick Anderson wrote in this story that the “test results show that gains in reading and math in elementary grades haven’t led to broad improvement in high schools.” So what does this all mean? Here’s a post looking at the issue, by Carol Burris, who retired this year as an award-winning principal at a New York high school. She is the author of numerous articles, books and blog posts (including on The Answer Sheet) about the botched school reform efforts in her state.
By Carol Burris
SAT scores for the Class of 2015 were the lowest since the test was revised and re-normed in 2005. The score drop in one year was 7 points — a drop thatInside Higher Ed characterized as significant.
The College Board began publishing SAT reports in 1972. This year’s reading score is the lowest average score ever published. Math scores have not been this low since 1999. And Inside Higher Ed describes the achievement gap as “large and growing.” All groups’ scores, with the exception of Asian students, are declining.
Across news reports, the reaction to the drop in scores was remarkably the same. Every story I saw included information provided by the College Board that subtly implied that the drop was due to the “largest number ever” of test takers, combined with an increase in the proportion of students who applied for fee waivers. The College Board also reported that the test takers are the “most diverse group ever.”
Let’s take a closer look at those claims.
It is true that 2015 saw the largest number of SAT test takers. By comparing the College Board’s 2014 College Bound Senior report with its 2015 report, it appears that 26,126 more seniors took the test. It should be noted that the College Board rounded its 2015 figure up by about 1479 students in the press report, while rounding down their 2014 figure by 2,395 students, thus making the increase seem larger than it is.
That 26,126 increase included an additional 4,532 seniors who described themselves as “citizens of another country.” The SAT has become increasingly popular among international students who take it in order to attend college in the United States. Between 2006 and 2014, the number of international students taking the SAT has doubled. According to theInternational Business Times, more than 300,000 students in 175 nations took the SAT in 2014. And those students are hardly dragging down the scores—the average SAT composite score for all test takers in 2015 was 1490. The average score for “citizens of another country scores” was 1576.
More important than the total number of test takers, however, is whether or What the new SAT scores reveal about modern school reform - The Washington Post: