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College Board Releases SAT Statistics
posted by: Ruthie | September 26, 2013, 04:06 PM   


Today, the College Board, a New York organization responsible for administering the SAT, released the average data for the 1.6 million student test-takers. In addition to a drop of about 4,400 students, the SAT revealed little to no improvements from the class of 2012, with a mere 43% of students proving they are college-ready.



However, African Americans and Latino students showed improved scores, with 15.6% of African Americans meeting or exceeding the College Board’s college-ready benchmark, compared with 14.8% in 2012. Similarly, Latinos showed an improvement from 22.8% to 23.5%.

Schools need to "dramatically increase the number of students in K-12 who are prepared for college and careers," said College Board President David Coleman, in a press release about the results. Coleman continued to say the kind of curriculum used for college-prep needs to change.

Opponents of standardized testing were quick to criticize the report, saying the results, alone, were incapable of demonstrating college readiness. "No doubt that far too many students are not college-ready, and the College Board’s appeals to have more students take a more rigorous curriculum is important," said Mark Schneider, a vice president of the American Institutes of Research. "However, this does not mean that the [College Boards]’s suite of products (PSAT/SAT/AP) is causally connected to college success. This report skirts way too close to that causal link than it should."

Yet the data proves unsettling. Since their inception in 1972, the College Board average SAT results have decreased considerably. According to Anne Hyslop, with the New America Foundation, in order to improve scores, high schools need to make rigor an expectation, and tie accountability with postsecondary enrollment and success. If most students leaving high school need remediation in college, that's a strong signal that schools need to change, "You shouldn't have to take an SAT prep course to do well on the SAT," she said.

While the SAT is just one test, the average scores are concerning. Education reform advocates from across the country maintain that preparing students for college should be a top priority.

What do you think about this data? How can college readiness be improved?

Comment below.

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