Scores on New SAT Expected to Decline

Parents Forum
1

<p>or so explains this article a friend sent me: <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12732099/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12732099/&lt;/a> that will show up on msnbc's website, though it's from The Washington Post today, 5/11/06. </p>

<p>Jay Matthews (of Harvard Schmarvard fame :) ) has written it:
[quote]
College Board officials say they are expecting as much as a five-point average decline in math and verbal scores on the new SAT, leading many high school counselors to conclude that the longer test is wearing out test takers and hurting their performance...</p>

<p>..."I think the test is entirely too long and that fatigue is definitely affecting student performance," said Robyn Lady, a college counselor at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County.</p>

<p>James Montoya, vice president for higher-education assessments for the College Board, sent a message to college admissions directors April 21 after eight colleges had reported large and unexpected drops in average scores. He emphasized that fewer students are retaking the test, which counselors attribute to a price increase from $28.50 to $41.50.</p>

<p>"At this point," Montoya said, "we believe that this decrease in repeat test taking may account for some of the average score decline. The average student who retests increases his or her combined critical reading and math scores by approximately 30 points."</p>

<p>...At least 15 colleges and universities have reported even greater drops in the average scores on the nation's leading college entrance exam among applicants for this fall's freshman class. On the nine campuses of the University of California, the largest user of the SAT, average scores declined by 15 points, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported a 12-point drop. Final national figures are not expected until August...</p>

<p>...Robert J. Massa, vice president for enrollment at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., said the school's applicants' average scores dropped six points but the accepted students' average jumped eight points. He said he will have to see more data before deciding if the SAT needed adjustment.</p>

<p>"When large public universities post score declines," he said, "I am not terribly surprised because price is driving more and more families to the public institutions," and the larger the applicant pool, the more likely it is to draw students with lower scores.

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<p>Thought some of you might find this interesting, while I guessing others will yawn and not worry about it.</p>

<p>P.S. I see that asteriskea has started a new thread on the same story - but via the NYT... I must have been busy editing my quote and missed it.</p>

<p>Perhaps a Moderator can merge the two threads?</p>

2

<p>It's not a huge deal. Look, the scores reported are scaled scores. The percentile scores at these places will not change.</p>

3

<p>It's interesting that the decline is abscribed to "fatigue," rather than the change in the material. What about the change in the test itself? The math portion is supposed to include higher level math than it did previously. Scores should go down if more difficult material is included. Also missing from the discussion of lower scores is an analysis of how students did on the dropped portions of the SAT (e.g. analogies in the reading section) versus the retained portions of the SAT.</p>

4

<p>VTCor, scores don't necessarily have to go down because the material is more difficult. Scores from 200-800 are scaled scores based on percentile. They're not absolute measures.</p>