Standardized Educational Test Scores

Congressional research reportMar 1, 1984

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Congressional Research Service

The Library sf Congress

Washington, D.C.

20540

STANDARDIZED EDUCATIONAL TEST SCORES

IP0294S

The Congressional Research Service receives numerous requests for information

concerning standardized educational test scores of specific States and local

communities.

Standardized test scores typically are compiled only by the schools

or school districts that administer the exams; in general, they can be obtained

only by contacting school officials in each locality. Of increasing concern

are the nationwide average scores on both the American College Test (ACT) and

the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

This Info Pack provides basic information and background on standardized

educational tests.

Statistical material is included to reflect the most recent

results of those who have taken these tests who intend to go to college.

Additional information on this subject, primarily in newspapers and

periodicals, may be found in a local library through the use of indexes such as

the Education Index, Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), Readers' Guide to

Periodical Literature, and the New York Times Index.

Members of Congress who want additional information may contact CRS at

287-5700.

We hope this information is useful.

Congressional Reference

Division

Congressional Research Service

The Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

20540

STANDARDIZED EDUCATIONAL TEST SCORES

The Congressional Research Service receives numerous requests for standardized educational test scores of specific States and local communities.

With one exception, we are unable to provide such data.

Standardized test

scores typically are compiled only by the schools or school districts that

administer the exams; in general, they can be obtained only by contacting

school officials in each locality.

While some school officials regularly pro-

vide test score data to the public (sometimes local newspapers publish them),

others regard the scores as confidential and not for release.

Where scores

are available, normally school officials provide only averages or other group

measures; they do not divulge scores of individual students except to parents

or guardians.

At the present time, 44 States and the Districts of Columbia have some

kind of statewide testing program in which all or most public school students

in certain grades normally participate.

attached.)

(A list of these programs is

In some States, students must attain at least a specified minimum

score in order to be promoted or to graduate; in others, student scores are

used only to diagnose strengths and weaknesses. While a number of States have

developed their own tests for these assessments, reflecting their own priorities and curricula, others use one of several widely-administered exams such

as the California Achievement Test or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

Informa-

tion about these tests can be obtained by writing to State departments of education.

(The names and addresses of these agencies are attached.)

In the United States, students applying to college frequently are asked

to take either the American College Test (ACT), sponsored and administered by

the American College Testing Program of Iowa City, Iowa, or the Scholastic

Aptitude Test (SAT) sponsored by the College Entrance Examination Board of

New York City and administered by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey.

The national mean (that is, average) scores for these exams

are released annually.

(Attached are tables showing the respective national

means for the ACT since the 1969-1970 testing year and for the SAT since the

1951-1952 testing year.)

Recently, Educational Testing Service has begun releasing State mean SAT

scores.

(A copy of the latter for the 1982-83 testing year is attached.)

obtain State mean ACT scores, one must contact the appropriate State department of education.

To obtain school district or individual school mean ACT or

SAT scores, one must contact local school officials.

Local district or indi-

vidual school scores are not always available.

It is not clear what inferences, if any, can legitimately be drawn from

the State SAT score means.

The proportion of high school seniors taking the

SAT or ACT varies so much from State to State (as does the proportion of children completing high school) that comparisons among States may be deceptive.

For similar reasons, comparisons of ACT or SAT scores among school districts

or individual schools may be misleading.

Care must also be taken in drawing inferences from State SAT score means

about variations in the quality of education among the States.

The SAT is

designed to measure aptitude for college study, not to measure academic

achievement; it aims to predict who will do well in college, not to identify

who has learned the most in elementary and secondary school.

By itself, the

SAT should not be considered a good indicator of the quality of previous

schooling.

(Standardized achievement tests in various academic subjects are

also sponsored by the College Entrance Examination Board and administered by

the Educational Testing Service.

While these exams do measure the quality

of academic preparation, they are taken by relatively few students who are

not representative of college applicants, let alone of high school seniors

in general. )

One nationally administered examination that can be used to help assess

the quality of American elementary and secondary education is the National

Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),

a congressionally authorized series

of tests for 9-year olds, 13-year olds, 17-year olds, and young adults in

reading, mathematics, science, social studies, writing, and other subjects.

Test results are available for a number of different student characteristics

such as sex, race, parents' education, and type and size of community; they also

are available both for the country as a whole and for four regional divisions.

NAEP results are not available by State, school district, or individual school.

(Attached is a paper summarizing trends in NAEP results in reading, science,

and mathematics.)

Further information about the results of NAEP tests may be

obtained by writing the National Assessment of Educational Progress, P.0.

Box 2923, Princeton, New Jersey, 08541.

March 1, 1984

Congressional Research Sew ice

The Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

20540

AMERICAN COLLEGE TEST (ACT) AND SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (SAT)

NATIONAL MEAN SCORES

Table 1 on the next page shows the estimated national mean (average)

scores on the American College Test (ACT), a four-part multiple-choice exam

designed to measure academic abilities students will need in postsecondary

education.

Students are measured in each part on the basis of the number of

answers they get correct on scales of 1 to 33 (English), 1 to 36 (mathematical), 1 to 34 (social studies), and 1 to 35 (natural sciences); they also

receive a composite score on a scale of 1 to 35.

Candidates with high scores,

such as 25, are generally considered to be more likely to have academic success in college than are candidates with low scores, such as 12.

College offi-

cials use test results not only for deciding who should be admitted but also

for guidance and placement.

The ACT is one of several postsecondary assessment exams sponsored and

administered by the American College Testing Program, a private nonprofit

organization.

Table 1

American College Test Score National Means

1969-1970 to 1982-83

Academic

year

English

1/ Source:

cent sample.

Math

Social

S tudies

National

Sciences

Composite

American College Testing Program, based upon a 10 per-

Table 2 on the next page shows the national mean (average) scores on the

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a two-part examination designed to measure aptitude for college study.

It consists of a verbal section and a mathematical sec-

tion, each of which has multiple choice questions that test a variety of intellectual abilities.

Candidates are measured on the basis of the number of

answers they get correct (though to discourage guessing, a fraction of the

number of incorrect answers is subtracted from the number that are correct),

and are given a score for each section on a scale of 200 to 800.

Candidates

with high scores, such as 700, are generally considered to have greater aptitude for college work than candidates with low scores, such as 400.

Test

results are used by college officials primarily to help them decide who

should be admitted.

They also are used for placement and guidance.

The SAT is one of several postsecondary education admissions tests

sponsored by the College Entrance Examination Board, a private, nonprofit

association. The Educational Testing Service has responsibility for preparing, administering, and scoring the SAT.

TABLE 2 .

Academic

Year

Scholastic Aptitude Test Score National Means 1_/

1951-1952 to 1982-1983

SAT Verbal

High School

All Candidates

Seniors -

SAT Mathematical

High School

All Candidates

Seniors 21

11 Source:

Educational Testing Service.

2 1 These scores are not available until the 1966-67 academic year.

scores for 1966-67 through 1970-71 are estimates.

March 1, 1984

EDUCATION DAILY

January 5 , 1 9 8 4

p p . 5-8

D a t a File

State Use Of Barlc Skllls Testa, 1083

Alabama

Alaska

A n 8 8 To8td

arrckr

Inltlrtod

Mlnlmum

Sklllr

Alabama Basic Skills Test

Language Arts & Math

Reading

3,689

3&6

1981

YES

California Achievement Test

Language Arts & Reading

English & History

Math & Science

7-12

1-12

I948

Reading & Math

4&H

1978

Alaska Statewide Assessment

Program (Biennial-objective

referenced)

American Samoa

Cumculum Referenced Tests in I

Arizona

Arizona Basic Skills Program

California Achievement Test

Arkansas

T y p ot To8l

Stab

Arkansas Minimum

Performance Test

lish, Social Studies, Science & Math Being Drveluped.

Language Arts & Reading

English

Math

Reading

English

Math

Language Arts

English

Math

Scholastic Research Associates

(Not mandatory)

California

California Test of Basic Skills

Language Arts

English

Reading

Math

Connecticut

Connecticut Assessment of

Educational Progress

Language Arts, Reading, Social

Studies, Art, Music, Math

& Science

Reading, Language Arts & Math

Education Evaluation & Remedia

Assistance Proficiency Exam

California Achievement Test

Language Arts & Reading

English

Math

Assessment for Minimal

Performance Requirements

Reading, Writing & Math

Comprehensive Test of Basic Ski

Reading, Math, Language Arts,

Reference Skills, Science & Socia

Studies

Criterion Referenced

Reading & Science

Math

English

Florida

State Student Achievement Test

Language Arts & Reading

English

Math

Georgia

Iowa Test of Basic Skills

Language Arts

Reading & Math

4th & 8th Grade Criterion

Referenced Tests [ 10th grade if

local education agencies

(LEAS)desire1

Reading & Math

Delaware

District of

Columbia

Usually beforc

entrance into

high school

(graduation

reauirement)

6 1 9 8 4 C a p i t a l P u b l i c a t i o n s , I n c . Reproduced by t h e L i b r a r y of Congress, C o n g r e s s i o n a l

Research S e r v i c e w i t h p e r m i s s i o n of t h e c o p y r i g h t c l a i m a n t .

Date

Initlrtod

State

L a n p g e Arts

Reading

Social Studies & Science

Math

Guam

F a

Mlnlmum

Skllk

1983

Fall 1981

YES

English

Criterion Referenced

(locally developed)

Hawaii State Test of Essential

Competencies

Hawaii

Language Arts & Reading

Science

History

Social Studies, Art & Music

Math

Foreign Languages

Competency-Bad Measures

Language Arts, Reading, History,

Social Studies, Art, Music, Math d

Science

Scholastic Aptitude Test,

Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test

& Differential Aptitude Tests

Language Arts & Reading

Math

English

History

Foreign Languages

Idaho

*IdahoProficiency Test (Testing

Voluntarv 7540% wrtici~ate)

Reading, Writing, Composition &

Spelling

Indiana

Essential Skills Assessment Projec Reading

(Pilot project)

Educational Improvement Progral Language Arts

Readinn

~n~list

Social Studies, Math & Science

Kansas Minimum Competency

Reading & Math

Reading

English

Math

Louisiina

Louisiana Basic Skills TesHng

Language Arts, Reading & Math

Lan urge Arts & Reading

~ n g f s h& Math

Social Studies & Science

Maryland

Massachusetts

California Achievement Test

English & Math

Competency-based Prerequisites

English & Math

Social Studies ICitizenshid

Massachusetts Basic Skills

Language Arts

English

Math

Reading, Math, Social Studies,

Program (Random Sample Testins Science, Music, Art & Health

Minnesota

State Assessment

Language Arts, Reading, Social

Studies, Art, Music

Math & Science

Historv

Sample of lOtl

grade student

YES

Typr ol Twt

Califomla Achievement Test

Q8C

Mlssbslppi

Montana

Nebnska

Nevada

Anr8 Tmt8d

Miuoud Essential Skills Test

Language Arb

Rerding & Math

History & English

English, Social Studirr & Math

Test of Achievement and

ProAdency

English, History, Social Studies,

Math & Science

I n agr Arts

~earng

English & History

Social Studies, Art, Music,

Math & Science

Montana Testing Service (&ttery of tests offered-LEA participation voluntary)

Nebnska Assessment (Batterv of Learning I i l l c L E A reauests tests)

Nevada Proficiency Exam

English & Math

Missouri Assessment

]

New tirmpshire

Periodic Assessments

Language Arts & Reading

Histo , Social Studio & Math

~ng1i.X

New Jersey

New Mexico

Minimum Basic Skills Test

New Mexico High School

Proficiency Exam

Writing, Reading & Math

English, Social Studies k Math

North Carolina

Comprehensive Test of &sic Skills Language Arb & Reading

History, Sodrl Studies, Math &

Mencc

English

Math

Math Competency

any year 9-12

YES

8 or 9

YES

Regenb Competency in Writing

WdHng

YES

WriHng

YES

WriHng Test for Elementary

Schools

Degrees of Reading Power

Reading

3,6,8or9&1

English & Math

YES

Reading

1&2

YES

l&2

YES

( Dkppoatic Mathematics Inventory 1h t h

California Achivement Test

Ohio

YES

WriHng

( Prescriptive Reading Inventory

English

'Reading

Math

36116

3,6&9

Scholastic Research Asaociatea

California Achievement Test

Publisher of Textbook

Program T a t

YES

Preliminary Competency Test in

Writing

North Carolina Competency Test

Northern

b h n a Islands

YES

I Language Arts, Reading & Math

New York

9 & 12

I Stanford Achievement Test

" Qmdm

4&6

4.618

Competency-baaed Test

YES

Social Studia & Science

YES

I2&,Y

YES

Arts

I Ohio T a t of Scholastic Achievement (LEASrequired to test)

gub).ct Areas T a t d

Readingwriting 61 Math

Language Arts & Reading

0I.d.r

7& 1 1

U d For

D.1.

Mlnlmum

wtl8t.d

(Wrlllr

1 1978 & 1982 I YES

Writing, Histon, Stwial Studies.

Art, Music, Math & Science

Reading

Mathematics Basic Skills Test

Math

Spanish Basic Skills Test

Spanish

English Basic Skills Test

English

Rhode Island

lowa Test of Basic Skills

language Arts

Reading. Math & Study Skills

English

Rhode island Life Skills Test

Enelish. Math & Reading

South Carolina

Comprehensive Test of

Basic Skills

Language Arts & Reading

Social Studies, Math & Science

English

Basic Skills Assessment Test

Writing

Reading

Math

~ u g n o s t i crests

Math, Spelling, Language Arts &

Reading

Language Am, Reading & Math

Puerto Rico

Tennes*

Proficiency Exams k r Graduation

1 l Y Es

YES

1 1976

I NO

11973

I YES

allowed in

Reading Comwsition & Math

3,5&9

Reading, Math, Science & History

5 & 11

1975

Local Test (Must conform to

criteria of competency; status

of all graduating students

must be reported; state does

random sampling)

Language Arts & Reading

English

Math & Science

1-6

7-12

1-12

1977

YES

Minimum Competency Test

Math & Reading

Scholastic Research Associates

Language Arts

Reading, Social Studies, Math &

Science

English

Basic Skills (Criterion Referenced

Tests)

Language Arts, Reading & Math

California Achievement Test

Language Arts & Reading

Math

English

Basic Skills Forms

A great variety of other measures

as part of the state assessment

0rOPram.

-- -

Vermont

Washington

Degrees of Reading Power

(One time studv-samde)

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Comprehensive Test of Basic Skill

Language A m

Reading, History. Social Studies,

Math & Science

English

I Legislation requires testing in 198586; tests being developed.

Source: Council of Chief State School Officefs, Humanltles a d State Educallon Agencle& POllcler, p.n#ctim

a d Plorp.ch

IPQ294S

EDUCATION DAILY

September 2 2 , 1983

p. 6

D a t a File

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, COLLEGE-BOUND SENIORS, 1981

AND MEAN SAT SCORES, 1983

State

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mlssissippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Hlgh School*

Qraduates

Sonlon

K Qredurtes

Taking SAT

- SAT ScoressVerbal

Math

WASHINGTON POST

January 29, 1984 pp. Dl,D2

SATs Are Gettii in the Way of Education

Who cares about high scores? The question ix Have they learned an*?

By Dan Morgan

UESTION: The Scholastic Aptitude

Teat (SAT) i8:

0 A clever device used by the educational

establishment to avoid its responsibilities.

E l A hurdle of much-exaggerated importance for high school seniors trying to get into

college.

C One symbol of what's wrong with high

school education in America.

The SAT itself does not allow an answer ot

"all of the above," but in this case, that is the

Wrrect answer. The declining status and significance of this test is one sign that the hide.bound American secondary educational system is at last undergoing some significant

changes.

Old institutions die slowly, and the SAT

still has a powerful mystique. It remains a

tense rite of pasage for nearly half of all high

Uatt Morgan is an editor of Outlook.

@ 1984

school seniors. Yesterday, some 267,000 filed

nervously into classroods and auditoriums

around the country to agonize over its multiple choice questions about vocabulary, grammer and math.

Yet there is a growing belief among educatom, that the SAT is an outmoded educational instrument that is sending the wrong

message, or a t least an incomplete one, to the

nation's high schools. In the 58 years of its exiqtence, its creators have yet to define satisfactorily what, exactly, the SAT tests. It

comes too late in high school careers to be

much use in spotting areas where students

need more help. And it does not examine how

The Washington Post Company. Reproduced by the Library of Congress,

Congressional Research Service with permtssion of the copyright claimant.

well kids have actually mastered high schuol

subjects such as chemistry, Spanish, American history or geography.

One sign of changing times way a little-notic& report from Harvard College this winter. Harvard confirmed that it was considering allowing future candidates for admission

to skip the SAT altogether. Instead, applicants would have the option of submitting

the results of tests that evaluate 'their mastery, or "achievemcnt," in five high school

academic subjects.

The new thinking about testing is part of a

fundamental reevaluation of what is needed

to improve the quality of American secondary

education, a reevaluation that marks a clear

(and controversial) break with the recent

past.

Educational reformers have been urging

schools to radically revamp their curriculums,

to eliminate the junk courses that have accumulated in them over the past two decades,

and to require all students, not just collegebound ones, to master academic subjects such

as world history and science.

For that, the nation clearly will need an

overhauled testing system that helps studenk

identify their strengths and weaknesses early

in the game, instead of one that sorts out the

gifted (or the good test-takers) from the notso-gifted at the end of the academic process.

The United States, alone of all major in:

dustrial countries, relies primarily on a vague

concept called "aptitude" to evaluate secondary school students.

This year 1.5 million seniors will take the

SAT, the nation's leading aptitude test. Defenders of the exam say it tests a student's

ability to think and reason. Many of the

questions certainly do that; they are abstract

puzzles requiring skills that some feel are beyond the schools' ability to teach. The defenders also say the SAT does test a certain

kind of verbal and mathematical achievement. But the SAT does not test knowledge

of high schoo1courses.

That is not the main purpose, either, of the

American College Testing Program exam (the

ACT), which 900,000 students, most of them

in the Midwest, will take this y w .

knowledge of foreign language, hitory, English, science and math. The

questions are made up after extensive consultation with high school

teachers and college profes8ors d

over the country.)

ACT does a s k T r n e questions

about eocial studies and natural science, but it is similar to the SAT.

Remarkable as it may seem, only a

small minority of US. high school

students presently take standardized,

national teats that evaluate what

they have actually learned in high

school academic courses. In recent

years, many states have adopted

"minimum competency" requirements for high school diplomas, but

the requirements have been set so

low that almost all can pass.

There is nothing in this country

comparable to the British 0 (for Ordinary) h l tests - the stringent

three-hour, written examinations

that all English 16-year-olds take in

up to 10 different subjects. The 0

Levels, instituted in the 19509, rep W the old elitist system of British academic selection.

Lest year, only 280,000 high school

seniors out of 3 million (less than 10

percent) took the achievement tests

offered in 13 subjects by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton,

the m e company that produces the

SAT. M a t of those who did were

candidatea for elite colleges and universities that often require them.

Only 86,000 (3 percent) took the

ETS's achiwement teet in writing,

- which nsists of a 20-minute essay.

4The ievement testa are one-hour

+ltiplechoice exams that examine

It is easy to see why the U.S.

educational establishment has been

loath to test what hiih school students have learned.

As several major reports h u e d in

the last few months state, high school

curriculums in America are a "smorgasbord." The National Commission

on Excellence in Education has reported that high schools have a

"cafeteria-style curriculum in which

the appetizers and desserts can easily

be mistaken for the main course."

Only 31 percent of high school graduates complete intermediate algebra

and only 16 percent finish a geography course:

In an Ill~noissample, it turned out

that more than 2,100 different subjects were taught in the state's hiih

~ h o o l s and

, a large portion of them

were non-academic. That was in

1977. Since then, economic cuts and

state-ordered reforms have sharply

reduced electives, but curriculums

everywhereare still bloated with such

courses. Large high schools typically

offer 150 or more courses, including

subjects such as driving, speed-reading, gourmet cuisine, bowling, office

management, food services, medical

careers, "tots and toddlers" (baby

care), women in society, wilderness

survival and whale watching.

The available evidence is not reassuring about what high school students actually do learn. In 1976, one

out of seven 17-year-oldsthought the

president did not have to obey the

law and only 12 percent were aware

that plastica are petroleum producta.

International comparisons are

risky, given the uniquely broacl ba&

of US. public education, but results

of such comparisons have not &en

flattering to the United States. In

one, done between 1973 and 1977,

American 13-to-18-year-olds tested

near the bottom of industrial countries in civics, mathematia and reading comprehension.

I .

Why has a schoolroom "smorgasbord," and its shoddy results, been

tolerated for so long in a country that

constantly boasts of its commitment

to education? The answer is that the

its

nation's educational leaders

college deans, teachers' organizations,

testing companies, high school principals and state and local authorities

- have found convenient excuses to

avoid taking action. They have persieently claimed that they can't agree

among themselves on what students

should know. And they have fallen

back on an almost religious-sounding

incantation: local authorities, not

outsiders, should decide what is

taught in local schools.

The SAT, with its alleged objectivity and its claim to be "curriculum

free", has helped educators avoid the

real h u e s of educational quality. For

years, it provided admissions offices

at elite colleges and universities with

a convenient way to finesse the problem of identifying students' accom-

plishments, while still Tunneling

gifted applicants to them.

Because it almost defied definition,

the SAT enabled educators to duck

the charge that they were dictating

what schools should teach.

What makes recent proposals for

educational reform so intriguing is

that the propaah take a first stab at

identifying the knowledge and skills

that American students should acquire in high school. Several of the

proposals call in so many words for

something this country has never

had: a high school curriculum, rooted

in academic subjects and specific academic skills, that ie generally accepted nationwide.

Last year, the College Board, a

non-profit organization of 2,500 colleges, schools and school systems,

issued a %-page booklet identifying

"what [college] students need to

know and be able to do," It listed six

academic subjects (English, the arts,

mathematics, science, social studies

and foreign language), and six academic "competencies" (reading, writing, speaking and listening, mathematics, reasoning, and studying). The

booklet was general enough to avoid

charges that the College h d was

"dictating" to the schools, but it went

much further than ever before in saying that there are a set of definable

goals for all schoaia In some areas it

got specific. Under world history, it

said students ahould not only know

about the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, but also "the

epread of Islm."

The booklet was followed last summer by the release of two major reports that questioned current high

school curriculums. a

One, the report of the National

Commission on Excelence in Education, recommended that state and

local authorities require all studenh

geeking a diploma to take four years

of English, three years of mathemat-

These SAT sample questions measure ''aptitude." They require an

ability to reason and comprehend abstractions - qwlities that some

feel are difficult to teach i n a classroom. Six out of 10 students get the

right answer to Question 1. Slightly less than one out of 10 correctly

answer Question 2. (For correct answers, see box below.) By contrast,

achievement tests measure how well students have mastered specific

high school subjects. History achievements ask about the dates or significance of actwl events and chemistry questions may test a student's knowledge of chemical reactions. The questions are from "Taking the SAT," the College Board's guide for high school students.

1. In the figure above, a

rectangular piece of

paper ABCD is folded

along dotted line WZ ao

that A is on top of X

and DisontopofY and

then folded along XY so

that B is on top of W

and C is on top of Z. A

small semicircle S with

diameter on BC is cut

out of the folded paper.

If the paper is unfolded,

which of the answers at

right could be the result?

2. How many minutes will it take a rocket to travel 4,000 miles if its

average rate is 100 miles every t seconds?

ics, three years of science, three years

of social studies and one-half year of

computer science.

The other was former U.S. Commissioner of Education Ernest L.

Boyer's book, "High School," written

for the Carnegie Foundation for the

Advancement of Teaching. Boyer

called for schools to establish a "core

of common learning," with required

courses in literature, the arts,foreign

language, history, civics, sciences,

mathematics, technology and health.

Boyer called for an end to the tracking of students into "academic" and

"general" programs. Under his plan

all students would take a solid group

of academic subjecta

Boyer's ideas have been attacked

on grounds that they could lead to a

Jhomogenous" system that would

keep schools from tailoring curriculums to local needs. Doesn't a school

in an Iowa farm community have different educational priorities and

values than,one serving ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago, they asked?

Boyer contends that question dodges

the real issue. *

"If a school district is incapable of

naming the t h i i it wants high

school graduates to know, if a community is unable to define the culture it wants high school graduates to

inherit, if education cannot help students see relationship beyond their

own personal ones, then each new

generation will remain dangerously

ignorant, and its capacity to live confidently and responsibly will be

diminished," wrote Boyer.

For better or worse, the testing

system is sure to have a major impact

on whether these curriculum reform

proposals get off the ground.

The SAT became a mass, nationwide k t after World War 11, when

higher education was expanding rapidly and colleges and universities

needed some uniform indicators. Initially, SAT scores were thought to be

an excellent predictor of college performance. When subsequent studies

questioned that assumption, the rationale for the SAT changed.

The current, more modeet view of

the College Board, which sponsors

the test, is that it is "one helpful

piece of information."

Spokesmen for some college admissions offices say SAT scores help

students evaluate their own scholastic strengths, so that they can "selfselect" colleges that fit those abilitiea

It identifies "gifted" (if high scores

automatically warrant that adjective)

students who otherwise might get

lost in the admissions shuffle because

they attend an undistinguished high

school. And it provides a check on

whether grades on high school transcripts accurately reflect a student's

ability.

But Boyer and others suggest that

the mcat important use of the SAT

today is one for which it was never

intended: as a report card on schools,

not students. The decline in average

SAT scores starting in 1964 has been

a prime mover in calls for educational

reform. And rightly or wrongly, communities often judge the quality of

individual schools on how well students score on the test.

Most colleges, and ETS itself, have

come to recognize the limitations of

the SAT. Nevertheless, it is still associated with academic "merit,"

through the Preliminary SAT

(PSAT), the exam in junior year

which is used to select semi-finalists

for National Merit Scholarships. If

anything, students, parents and

than

schools seem more OW

ever with SAT results, and a whole

industry has grown up around coaching students to raise their scores,

This is ironic in view of considerable evidence that SAT scores will

have little bearing on whether the

vast majority of high school students

enter the college of their choice.

"Most private colleges in America

today, including some with rather

ANSWERS:

Question 1: The answer is A.

Question 2: The answer i i ~ ,

._I

~chiwement(not aptitude), linking it

to a "core" academic curriculum. Ah

rccompanying qwwtlormaire could

collect information about their inter.

atr, goale, p b &tory and expert

ences. That informatim could then

be wdto help them chow ruitabb

academic or employment o~~ortunk

highly selective, prestige

such ae Swarthmore,Yale or the Univeraity of viginib SAT^ are still im.

portant. But euch etudenta are in a titiea

FX'S has already begun work on

minority nationwide.

Of this year's 1,750,000 college- new series of diagnostic testa that.

bound eeniora, nearly 700,000 will teachers could use in classrooms to

enter two-year colleges that, for the pinpoint students' strengths and

most part, have open enrollments. weakneeees all through the academii:

Another 400,000 will enter state uni- year.

versities, most of which

the Big

"We need better testing at the

Ten schools in the Midwest, for ex- school level for purpoees of instrue

ample - accept all applicants from tion and learning," says ETS presitheir states. (The University of Wis- dent Gregory Anrig. "Our present

consin stopped requiring the teat en- tests don't answer the qwation, 'How

tirely in 1972.)

am I doing in progreasing toward my

Another 650,000 go on to four-year goals?' We don't have testa that are

colleges. Many of these do use teats helpful teaching tools."

and are selective; but they are not

A revamped testing system would

nearly as selective as many students create a new set of standards for

believe.

schools and students. One obvious

In all, probably no more than possiblity would be combining

80,000 of next year's freshman places achievements and SATs, to get a

will be in the 100 or so institutions more complete picture of a student's

where the combined math and verbal ability to reason and master a+,scores of entering freshmen average demic subjects. Such a test could do

1,100 or better out of a possible 1,600, a better job of recognizing persod

according to UCLA's Mi.In other qualities such as hard work, determiprestigious names, are not highly se- words, a score of 650 on the verbals nation, curiosity and love of learning

lective," writes Richard Moll in and 450 on the math would still be - all indispensable for doing well in

"Playing tfie College Admissions high enough to give a student a rea- academic subjecta, but not neasGame," a handbook for parents and sonable chance at a selective college. sarily for wring high on aptistudents. "High price, a declinhg A combined score of 1,200 is high tests.

number of college-age Americans, ap- enough to get a student into 90 perChanges of this magnitude would

prehension regarding the worth of a cent of the 50 most selective schools, face bureaucratic resistance. 'If impl&

bachelor's degree in the job market Astin estimates

mented, there would be leas need for

and the growth and strength of the

teachers of "electives," but more deI

state university system nationwide

mand for teachers who are really

have created his phenomenon. . . .

One concern of educators such as competent in their academic fields,

Unfortunately, many colleges pose as George Hanford, president of the as European and Japanese secondary

being more selective than they really College Board, is that the message of school teachers tend to be.

are."

Such reforms are bound to run into

h e r and otlter reformers may be

According to Moll, not more than misinterpreted as a 4 for a return criticism that they favor students

40 private colleges (and far fewer to a rigid curriculum emph&ig from affluent school systems blessed

public ones) "enjoy the luxury of ad- rote and fact learning. In emphasii- with gifted teachers. There is concern

mitting one out of two of their candi- ing achievement and m&.ery, he that raising academic standards too

dates, and not more than half a warns, we could sacrifice thinking high might force kids out of school,

dozen private colleges admit [as few and reasoning. And in a rapidly ,especiallyminorities. That would deas]one out of fi."

changing world, thaee two qualities feat the purpaee of US. public

Mogt C6lleges still require SAT will be more important than acquir- education, which has always strived

acores, but less than 2 percent use ing knowledge.

to be open rather than exclusive. But

them as the single most important

In Hanford's view, the SAT is a it is hard to see how that could hapcriterion for admission.

good teat of those important qual- pen. It is the lack of higher education

"After you get bey~ndthe first 50 itiea "I worry about too much em- facilities, not the tests, that make

or' 75 most selective colleges, the phasis on achievement," he says.

European education selective. There

problem is who not to admit," says

But even if the SAT does serve are only 40 academic colleges in ail of

/Alexander Astin, d i r a t a of the some useful purposes, it seems ur- England, while nearly two out of

Higher Education Research Institute gently in need of major modification. three US. high school students go on

At the University of California in Los

For one thing, it ignores the needs to one of the nation's 3,000 degea

.Angeles. For them, the SAT is useful of hundreds of thousands of students and universities.

mainly in weeding out the very worst who are not going on to college, but

The pressing issue for the United

,students (or worst teat takers) not' who still need guidance in planning States is not wider access to higher

in selecting the brightest.

their futwea Boyer proposes replac- ,education. It is the disappointing

ing the SAT with a Student Achieve- level of knowledge, academic skills

ment and Advisement Test (SAAT), and motivation of young people who

To students in the Washington which all &dents would 'take. It feel, unjustifiably, that they have had

area who have their h o p set on would evaluate theii academic ,agood education in high school

Septembex 18, 1983

p . A2

466

463

427

MARYLAND

VIRGINIA

890

4-5

-4

-I-39

-4

1978-83

468.

425

420

430

FEMALE

MALE

923

865

893

TOTAL

-1

scores of those who graduated from

high school last June.

I t includes statewide figures that

show combined scores on the two

parts of the test up 4 points in

Maryland and 2 points in Virginia.

The score for District of Columhia

students in both public and private

-9

-15

schools rose by 5 points, though it

was still 67 points below the nationwide average.

The wore for Maryland matched

the national average, while Virginia's

was 3 points below it.

The College Board said scores for

D.C.public schools and other local

-16

-23

-13

1973-83

-20

-1

1982-83

1973-83

1982-83

- -

CHANGE IN MATH

CHANGE IN VERBAL

SOURCE: COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION BOARD

493

445

MATH

VERBAL

ALL

1983

AVERAGE SAT SCORES BY SEX NmONWlDE

IIJRISDICTION

-24

-49

-33

1973-83

CHANGE IN TOTAL SCORE

1982-83

893

826

893

TOTAL

NOTE: SCORES INCLUDE BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EACH

427

399

DISTRICT Of

COLUMBIA

468

425

MATH

UNITED STATES

VERBAL

AVERAGE SAT SCORES

Reproduced by t h e C o n g r e s s i o n a l Research S e r v i c e ,

L i b r a r y of Congress, w i t h p e r m i s s i o n of t h e c o p y r i g h t c l a i m a n t .

@ 1983 The Washington P o s t Company,

After rising last year for the first

time in almost two decades, the nationwide average score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test remained unchanged this spring, the College

Board reports today.

While last year's rise was celebrated as a pmible "watershed" for

American schtn)ls, the failure of this

year's SAT ticores to continue lo advance was a disappointment to educators.

The SAT is the nation's most

widely used college entrance exam,

taken by alnicmt 1 million high

school senion a year. The mathematics average on this year's exam

was 468, up one point from 198'2,

but the verbal average fell one point

to 425.

!'I think the trend line seems to

indicate that we've leveled off, that

the slippage has stopped," said Robert G. Cameron, executive director of

research and development for the

Cdlege Board, which ia an associat i m of about 2,500 schools and colleges.

:I'd be a fool to predict the future," Cameron continued, "but I'm

still optimistic that with all the refovmers on the lcnse there will be

some real improvement."

William ,I. Hennett, chairman of

the National Endowment li)r the

Humanities, was more cautious.

"Maybe you can say we're holding

steady," he remarked, "hut we're

steady at the bottom."

in 1963, just before the scores

began their slide, the nationwide

SAT average was 478 on the verbal

part and 502 on the mathematics

part.

By 1980 and 1981, when the

scores reached their lowest level, the

combined average score had declined

by 90 points-54 points in the verbal score and 36 points in math.

I ~ s year,

the scores rose 2 points

in verbal and 1 point in math.

"After dropping so much, this is

just flat," Bennett said of the last

two years' results. "Nobody can say

we have the problems licked."

A perfect score on each half of the

two-hour multiple-choice exam is

800 points. The lowest is 200. The

test is taken by about a third of all

high school seniors.

In math, the exam concentrates

on problem-solving, using arithmetical reasoning, algebra and geometry.

The verbal part measures reading

comprehension and vocabulary.

'The new report is based on SAT

Nationwide College Entrance Test Scores Show No Improvement

WASKINGTON POST

The greatest increases were in

,school systems will be available next

mathematics and physical science,

week.

George H. Hanford, president of particularly among female studenb,

the College Board, said the 1-point though males continue to take more

rise in the nationwide SAT average courses in both subjects.

"I'm afraid we don't know what

in math "is apparently 'due to the

improved performance of women, as goes on in those courses," Cameron

the average score for women rose 2 said. "We don't know how rigorous

points from 1982, while the average they are."

score for men remained the same." , Average grades reported by high

Hanford said the score rise "co- school students were unchanged for

incides with increases in the amount the fourth year in a row, though they

of math that women report taking in are still down only slightly from the

high sch001 and parallels their in- peaks of grade inflation reached in

creasing interest in careers in such the mid-1970s.

fields as business and computer sciLast year, the College Board reence."

ported that gains by blacks and

Even with the increase, however, other minority groups played a

the average math score for female major role in the SAT increase, but

students is 48 points below that of scores for differ@ ethnic groups on

males. On the verbal part of the test, .this year's test will not be published

the average for males is 10 points until December.

ahead. Both sexes dropped 1 point

After a spurt during the 1970s,

on the verbal test last year.

the proportion of test-takers who are

Despite the mixed results on the black dropped slightly to 8.8 pertest, data collected from students cent, down from a peak of 9.1 perwho take it indicate a continuing cent in 1980.

trend toward enrolling in more acAsian students continued to inademic cwrsea

crease rapidly, reaching 4.2 percent,

Since 1977, the average amount of more than double the 2.0 percent restudy in major high school academic ported in 1975.

subjects-English,

m i a l studies,

The proportion of students in primathematics, foreign languages, and vate schools also rose, climbing from

science-has increased from 15.8 to 17.5 percent to 19.7 percent since

16.3 years.

1978.

Council of

Chief State

School Officers