Drop in SAT scores biggest in 31 years

AP ^ | 8/29/06 | Justin Pope

[RushCrush]

The high school class of 2006 recorded the sharpest drop in SAT scores in 31 years, a decline that the exam's owner, the College Board, said was partly due to some students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of twice.

Fatigue wasn't to blame, the College Board insisted, even though this year's class was the first to take a new version of the exam which added an essay. It now takes an average of three hours and 45 minutes to complete the test, not counting breaks, up from three hours previously.

The results come several months after numerous colleges reported surprisingly low SAT scores for this year's incoming college freshmen. The nonprofit College Board, which had said scores would be down this year, released figures Tuesday showing combined critical reading and math skills fell seven points on average to 1021.

[Eva]

I read that the SATs are easier now, than they were in the sixties, and that the scores now are equivalent of 50 points higher scores on the old test. I'm not sure if that is total or individual.

[Tokra]

said was partly due to some students taking the newly lengthened test only once instead of twice.

Twice?? TWICE???

WTF??

If I had been allowed to take the test twice - I'm sure I would have had a much better score.

Do you want your brain surgeon to have the chance to take his board exams twice?

I don't.

[rottndog]

My wife is a high school teacher and she has been seeing this for a couple of years now--a severe drop in basic skills that drags all other academic indicators down.

I think what we are seeing is the first waves of the whole language/new new math kids hitting high schools and colleges. These kids lack the most basic skills in reading and comprehension, and that severely affects all other skill sets. This is a complete and total repudiation of the education fads of the 90s, and unfortunately there is going to be millions of kids who have been damaged by them.

Of course, you will never hear any of the education industrial complex take any of the blame--they will just whine about not having enough money.

This is why we need to get the government out of the education business. It needs to be contracted out to the private sector, just as many functions of government are. Where is it written in stone that education has to be provided by public employees?

[Buck W.]

Correct, you just couldn't "mix & match" components: for example, the student can't choose the math score from one test and the verbal from another.

[Jeff Head]

Perhaps so...I certainly don't remember getting that chance back in the early 70s.

The same test? With the same questions?...or a different set of questions the second time through?

[don'tbedenied]

"Of course the scores are lower. They've changed the test dramatically, made it much longer and more difficult. It is totally unfair to compare it with scores from prior years."

Great post but it won't stop the "I walked 25 miles to school uphill both ways" posters.

[SoftballMominVA]

Kids have been taking the SAT twice for years on top of years. Nothing new there.

As far as a brain surgeon taking board certification tests more than once--I would suspect that is a possibility. I know I had a cousin that took his board cert test for orthopaedics at least 3 times. Lawyers also take their boards multiple times.

What I don't know is if there is any type of record as to how many times a doctor had to take the test before they passed. Anyone have any idea on that?

[joe fonebone]

without shoes...........just pictures of shoes on our feet

[Obie Wan]

Yeah and tomorrow you'll read another article here about the failings of a charter school or what a bad idea a school voucher system or home schooling is.Read the above article and weep folks because the handwriting has been on the wall for years.When it comes to public education we pay more and more for less and less !!!

[Rapscallion]

We've been here before, and we know how to fix this problem:

I suspect you know it cannot be fixed until we de-unionize the public schools and/or allow competitive schooling equal funding through vouchers. (I know because I am a former teacher of high school math educated before we put most resources toward educating the least intelligent. I watched it happen.)

[boomop1]

Not enough sex, Madonna and diversity questions.

[RochesterFan]

You are absolutely correct!

[SF Republican]

we weren't allowed to use calculators either us either - slide rules, man I'm old.

[Night Hides Not]

When I took the SAT back in the mid-70's, I had to walk to the test site, uphill, in both directions, during a blizzard the third week of May.

LOL!!! That's why I didn't take it!

I got lucky...my biorhythms were cooking the day I took the ACT. Not that I maxed it, but I did well enough on it that I scored a 4 year ROTC scholarship out of it.

[Rippin]

Let me guess..."Blue states lead the way down?"

[Myrddin]

What a crock. I wish I could have taken a few of my college tests twice and then counted the higher scores. Mush headed, liberal academia...all show and no substance.

I agree. I can't believe all the teachers whining about "teaching to the test". My teachers were ignorant of "the test". My SATs were just fine for admission to UCSD. I never even opened an SAT review book. My secret weapon for good test performance was a quart of eggnog at the lunch time break and a good night sleep the night before. Doing all my homework and class assignments helped too.

[lawnguy]

We are now reaping the seeds we have sown by letting liberals dictate education in this country. This is evidence of the "dumbing down" of our children thanks to liberal policies. We shouldn't put so much stress on our children as to force them to do homework, take tests and act responsibly and respectfully towards teachers and fellow classmates.

I couldn't agree more with this, except for the homework part. My kids are buried in homework because it's easy for the teacher to assign it, and requires not much effort on their part.

These low SAT scores don't surprise me in the least, and will result in an increasing pool of democrats.

[no dems]

Are we surprised? We've got kids in school today more interested in smoking weed, doing Ecstasy, watching MTV, blowing any imaginative substance their brain ever had on video games, the "non-sex" oral sex, and rainbow parties. Not to mention parents who don't give a "tinkers flip" whether their kids succeed or not and teachers who "walk" after having sex with their students.

HERE'S A TIP FOR PARENTS of school age kids from a former High School Teacher:

Tell your kids that the competition isn't as keen for success today as it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Tell them that if they will apply themselves, while others are frying their brains, they will have a bright future when their classmates are in prison or working at the car wash.

[FreedomNeocon]

I got 1260

[demkicker]

Beware of those who cause the problem. They will often offer solutions that will only make things worse.

We need to face the fact that there really is an agenda to continue dumbing us down.