STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION – TOPIC SUMMARY

Topic: SAT and ACT Oregon results

Date: Sept. 18, 2008

Staff/Office: Pat Burk, Office of the Superintendent, ODE

Action Requested: Information only Policy Adoption Policy Adoption/Consent Calendar

ISSUE BEFORE THE BOARD: Update the board on recent SAT and ACT results for Oregon students.

BACKGROUND:

SAT:

In Oregon and around the nation, the latest crop of high school graduates is less prepared for college than graduates from earlier in the decade, new results on the SAT show. Scores on the widely watched college entrance exam fell last year to their lowest level since the late 1990s and did not rebound in the class of 2008, according to results from the College Board, which runs the test.

The nation's stagnant SAT performance was chalked up to more students, including a record-high number of minority students, taking the test. But in Oregon, fewer students in the class of 2008 opted for the SAT as the competing ACT exam became more popular. Statewide, 18,377 students took the SAT, down 230 from the previous year, while about 10,600 took the ACT, a one-year jump of 4,200.


For the sixth straight year, Washington students posted the highest average SAT scores among states in which more than half of eligible students took the test. Oregon, which previously had the best scores in that group of states, dropped to a tie for third this year, due primarily to Oregon students' poor showing on the newest section of the SAT, a writing test. New Hampshire ranked second and Massachusetts, where the average score rose by six points this year, tied Oregon. Lagging in writing is particularly troubling, since a new study by the College Board shows that scores on the writing section are the strongest indicator of how well students will fare during their freshman year in college.

More girls take the SAT than boys, reflecting their higher rates of going to college. About 800,000 girls took the SAT, compared with about 700,000 boys. Oregon's ratio of girls and boys taking the exam mirrored the nation's, with 9,900 girls and 8,400 boys. Nationally, boys averaged four points higher than girls in reading (504 vs. 500) and 33 points higher in math (533 vs. 500), but girls outscored boys in writing, 501 to 488. Oregon students showed nearly identical gender gaps, except boys outshined girls even more in math (548 vs. 509).

ACT:

Oregon's high school graduates lost ground for the third year in a row on the ACT college entrance exam as the number of 2008 test takers surged by 65 percent to nearly 10,600 students. Oregon's average score compared with last year dropped from 22 to 21.2, a notable decline on a test that is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. Even one-tenth of a point difference is considered significant.

But the drop is likely explained by the dramatic increase in students taking the test. Many of the new test takers are from nine Oregon districts --including Beaverton, Portland, Hillsboro and Tigard-Tualatin --that require all high school juniors to take the exam. But the results also show "a lot of variation in high school in terms of how well kids are being prepared for college," said David Conley, director of the Center for Educational Policy Research at the University of Oregon. "As we expand the pool for more students, we are bringing in more students for whom high school is not preparing them as well for postsecondary education."

ACT also used test scores to estimate that 65 percent of Oregon students are prepared for college English, 45 percent for algebra, 53 percent for social science and 29 percent for biology. An ACT analysis shows that students who took a core of rigorous high school courses --four years of English and three years each of math, social science and natural science --performed at higher levels than students who did not take core courses. Students who took four years of English, for example, scored an average of 20.6 compared with 17.4 by those who took less than four years. This provides reinforcement for the new high school graduation requirements that will require all students to take a minimum core

Nationally, the average ACT score dipped by one-tenth of a point to 21.1, while the number of students taking the exam --1.42 million --grew by 9 percent compared with last year. Oregon's 21.2 composite ACT score put it slightly above the national average but below Washington's score of 23.1, Idaho's 21.5 and California's 22.2. Only 17 percent of seniors in California and Washington took the ACT, however, compared with 30 percent in Oregon. In Idaho, 58 percent of the graduates took the test.

Beginning in the current school year, all Oregon 10th graders will be offered the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). This will provide important data on Oregon high school students as an early indicator of post-secondary readiness and guidance for course selection over the final two years of high school.

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