¿Razones? Según el análisis del College Board, el organismo encargado del SAT –la PSU de los Estados Unidos de América– la caída del año 2007, la segunda en años consecutivos, se debe al mayor número y la mayor diversidad de los estudiantes que toman la prueba. Se trataría, además, de descensos leves. El informe de resultados, publicado el 28 de agosto, agrega intersantes consideraciones sobre la nueva sección del SAT dennominada “critical writing”, que estaría llevando a los colegios secundarios a una mayor preocupación y foco en torno al desarrollo de esta competencia. Ver texto completo más abajo.
A su turno, el analista del Chronicle of Higher Education, Eric Hoover, predice que en el futuro, a medida que el universo de alumnos que toma este examen se torne aún más heterogéneo y se halle compuesto por una más alta proporción todavía de alumnos de grupos étnica y socio.económicamente diversos, tenderán a seguir bajando. Ver su comentario a continuación.
SAT Scores Decline for Second Straight Year, as Experts Debate Cause
By Eric Hoover
The College Board announced on Tuesday that the average combined scores on the SAT’s mathematics and critical-reading sections for the high-school Class of 2007 declined to the lowest point in nearly a decade. Officials at the College Board, which owns the examination, attributed those changes to a larger and increasingly diverse group of test takers.
Average scores on the math section fell three points, to 515, and reading scores fell one point, to 502, out of a possible 800 points. Scores on the SAT’s controversial new writing section fell three points, to 494.
Last year the average combined scores on the math and critical-reading sections dipped by seven points, the biggest one-year drop since 1975 (The Chronicle, August 30, 2006). That news raised concerns among some admissions deans who worried that the recently revamped test did not correlate with the previous version. Some questioned whether the lengthened test — now at three hours and 45 minutes — had hindered students’ performance. But the College Board attributed that decline, at least in part, to a fall in the number of students who had taken the exam more than once (students who retake the SAT generally improve their scores).
Gaston Caperton, the College Board’s president, said this year’s decline stemmed from the expansion of the SAT testing pool in 2007. Of a record 1.5-million test takers in the Class of 2007, 39 percent were members of minority groups, making it the most diverse group ever. On average, white students score higher on the exam than black and Hispanic students do. Twenty-four percent of this year’s test takers did not speak English exclusively as their first language, up from 17 percent a decade ago. Thirty-five percent were students who would be the first in their families to attend college.
Some testing experts predicted that this year’s SAT results foreshadowed future declines, as test takers become more heterogeneous. “This is a good thing,” said Seppy Basili, a senior vice president at Kaplan Inc., a test-preparation company. “Almost every time you expand the pool, you see a drop in scores.”
ACT Inc., which offers a competing college-entrance test, announced recently that the national average score on its exam rose slightly this year, even as the number of test takers increased by 7 percent from the previous year. The number of SAT takers increased by about 2 percent.
Robert A. Schaeffer, public-education director for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, said the College Board had failed to offer a sufficient explanation for the score declines, which reversed a long-term trend of annual increases. Mr. Schaeffer questioned whether fatigue among test takers was partly responsible for the lower scores, and whether the new SAT was, in fact, consistent with the old version, as the College Board has insisted that it is.
Also on Tuesday, the College Board announced preliminary results of a forthcoming survey on the effect of the new SAT writing section, which includes a timed essay. According to the survey, 61 percent of high-school teachers and administrators said the addition of the writing section had helped increase the emphasis on writing instruction in classrooms.
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Number and Diversity of SAT® Takers at All-Time High. New College Board Survey Shows Increased Focus on Writing in High Schools
08/28/07
Washington, D.C.—The College Board announced SAT® scores today for the class of 2007, the largest and most diverse class of SAT takers on record. Nearly 1.5 million students (1,494,531) in the class of 2007 took the SAT, and minority students comprised nearly four out of 10 test-takers.
“The record number of students, coupled with the diversity of SAT takers in the class of 2007, means that an increasing number of students in this country are recognizing the importance of a college education and are taking the steps necessary to get there,” said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board. “I am encouraged by the greater numbers of students from all walks of life who are taking on the challenge of the SAT and college.
This year’s average score in critical reading is 502, a 1-point decline compared to last year, or a change of 0.20 percent. The average scores in mathematics and writing declined 3 points each compared to a year ago, bringing the scores to 515 and 494, or a change of 0.58 percent and 0.60 percent, respectively.
SAT Takers in the Class of 2007
The SAT takers in the class of 2007 are the most diverse group on record, with minority students comprising 39 percent.
There are more African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic SAT takers in the class of 2007 than in any previous class.
Hispanic students represent the largest and fastest growing minority group.
There are also more SAT takers in this year’s class for whom English is not exclusively their first language learned, compared to previous years’ SAT takers. In the class of 2007, 24 percent of students did not have English exclusively as their first language, compared to 17 percent in 1997, and 13 percent in 1987.
Thirty-five percent of this year’s class will be the first in their families to attend college.
Females comprise 54 percent of SAT takers and males comprise 46 percent.
Of additional interest, during the past two years, among all students taking the SAT, there has been a 31 percent increase in the number of students receiving SAT fee waivers. Over the past year among all students taking the SAT, nearly 324,000 students, or one out of every nine, received a fee waiver and qualified to take the SAT at no charge. A student’s eligibility for a fee waiver is primarily determined using the USDA income eligibility chart for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program.
SAT Score Trends and Course Taking
While the long-term trend for critical reading scores has been essentially flat, some racial/ethnic groups saw score increases in critical reading this year. Asian-Americans (+4), Mexican-Americans (+1), Other Hispanics (+1) and Other (+3) students all saw gains in critical reading scores compared to last year. Critical reading scores for females held steady at 502, while scores for males slipped by 1 point to 504 compared to a year ago. Over the last 10 years, the gap favoring males on the critical reading section has narrowed from a high of 9 points in 2003 to 2 points this year.
The long-term trend in mathematics scores is up, rising from 501, 20 years ago to 511, 10 years ago to 515 this year. Mathematics scores hit an all-time high of 520 in 2005, before slipping in 2006 and 2007.
When compared to 10 years ago, more students are taking precalculus and calculus. In 2007, 53 percent of students reported taking precalculus, compared to 40 percent 10 years ago. The percentage of students taking calculus rose from 23 percent to 30 percent during the same time period. While both males and females are taking more challenging math courses, a greater proportion of males continue to enroll in these courses and the score gap in mathematics persists. In 2007, females scored 499 on the mathematics section and males scored 533.
This year marks the second year of scores for the writing section on the SAT, thus it is too soon for a long-term trend to be established. Sixty-six percent of 2007 college-bound seniors reported taking English Composition in high school. The average writing score for these students is 521, 27 points higher than this year’s average writing score. The score gap on the writing section favors females by 11 points, with females scoring 500 and males scoring 489.
New Writing Survey
The results of a new College Board writing survey demonstrate that the addition of a required writing section to the SAT is contributing to an increased focus on writing in the classroom.
Conducted approximately two years after the writing section was introduced on the SAT, the College Board’s writing survey canvassed almost 5,000 teachers and 800 administrators nationwide to gauge their thoughts on the importance of writing in the curriculum, and if (and how) the writing section on the SAT had contributed to a change in their K-12 classrooms.
The findings show that of teachers surveyed:
Sixty-eight percent report that the SAT writing section has been a factor in changing writing priorities, attitudes and expectations.
Sixty-one percent report that the SAT writing section has been a factor in changing the overall importance placed on writing.
More than half (53 percent) report that the SAT writing section has been a factor in changing learning related to writing.
In addition, 76 percent of teachers and 81 percent of administrators say that over the last three years there has been an increase in the focus on writing in the classroom.
For the same time period, far fewer teachers and administrators report an increase in allocation of resources for writing (34 percent of teachers and 55 percent of administrators) and time devoted to grade writing assignments (7 percent of teachers and 13 percent of administrators).
“It has always been our belief that writing skills are essential for postsecondary success, and these points show that the introduction of the SAT writing section is leading to tangible and valuable change in the classroom,” said Caperton. “Even though we’re heading in the right direction, we must do a better job of providing teachers with the time and tools they need to teach writing well.”
The full report on the findings of the writing survey will be released in the fall.
New College Enrollment Data
The College Board, in partnership with National Student Clearinghouse, is now able to track college-enrollment patterns of SAT takers at the state and national level.
Available for the first time this year is the percentage of 2006 college-bound seniors from public schools enrolled in college and the percentage that chose to enroll in-state or out-of-state. Information on enrollment by race/ethnicity and type of institution attended (two year, four year, public, private) is also available. The College Board will be able to follow each class of SAT takers so that in future years, additional information, including the percentage of students successfully completing each year of college, as well as graduation rates, will be available.
“Not only is it important for students to gain admission to college, they must also have the tools to succeed when they get there,” said Caperton. “This data will be invaluable as we continue our efforts to address concerns about college retention rates nationwide.”
The College Board: Connecting Students to College Success
The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 5,200 schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations. Each year, the College Board serves seven million students and their parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,500 colleges through major programs and services in college admissions, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the PSAT/NMSQT®, and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services, activities, and concerns.