WV SAT SCORES DROP TO 1999 LOW

(08/30/2007)

The Class of 2007 averaged the lowest math and reading SAT scores since 1999 in West Virginia, the College Board reported. Last spring's high school seniors scored on average 502, out of a possible 800 points, on the critical reading section of the country's most popular college entrance exam, down from 503 for the class of 2006. Math scores fell three points from 518 to 515. The declines follow a seven-point drop last year for the first class to take a lengthened and redesigned SAT, which included higher-level math questions and eliminated analogies. The College Board, which owns the exam, insisted the new exam wasn't harder and attributed last year's drop to fewer students taking it a second time. Students typically fare about 30 points better when they take the exam again. In New York, 89 percent of students took the exam, up from 88 percent last year. Maine recently became the first state to use the SAT to meet its Grade 11 assessment requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and 100 percent of students took the exam there, compared to about three-quarters in the class of 2006. In West Virginia, 20 percent of students took the exam in 2007. Test scores dropped in every category, as compared to 2006: 3 points in critical reading, 3 points in math and 10 points in writing. In 2007, the average West Virginian taking the test scored 516 in critical reading, 507 in math and 505 in writing.

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